This photograph taken from the International Space Station on June 7, 2002, shows the Copper Fire burning in the hills outside Los Angeles. Astronauts use a variety of lenses and look angles as their orbits pass over wildfires to document the long-distance movements of smoke from the fires as well as details of the burning areas. This image clearly illustrates the difficult, rugged terrain that firefighters must face when fighting these wildland fires.
Astronaut photograph ISS004-E-13303 was provided by the Earth Sciences and Image Analysis Laboratory at Johnson Space Center. Additional images taken by astronauts and cosmonauts can be viewed at the NASA-JSC Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth.
