What Does the Grand Canyon Look Like from Space?

By Nancy Atkinson - March 27, 2014 at 3:54 PM UTC | Planetary Science
grand-canyon.jpg

Can you spot the Grand Canyon in this picture? It is surprisingly hard to see. Astronaut Koichi Wakata took this picture on March 26, 2014 from the International Space Station, and thankfully he provided a clue: look in the bottom center portion in the photo.

Flying over Grand Canyon (center low in the photo). Spectacular view! pic.twitter.com/dTnqVT0Jqx — Koichi Wakata (@Astro_Wakata)

Astronaut Karen Nyberg also took a photo of the Grand Canyon last fall from the ISS, and this one offers a little better closeup:

The Grand Canyon. October 19. pic.twitter.com/rY8LrAvNrs — Karen L. Nyberg (@AstroKarenN)

If you've ever stood at this Canyon's edge or even flew over in a plane, you know how dramatic the view is. From space ... not so much.

You may have seen a fake image of the Grand Canyon from space floating around the various social medias last year that looks much more majestic. I won't share it here, but suffice to say, it's a doctored up aerial view with a starry sky photoshopped in. The images here are the

real

view of the Grand Canyon from space.

Earth's Grand Canyon pales in comparison to Valles Marineris on Mars-- the biggest canyon we know of in the Solar System -- which is ten times longer and five times deeper than our Grand Canyon here on Earth.

In depth: Valles Marineris: The Grandest Canyon of All

[caption id="attachment_110775" align="aligncenter" width="580"]

Valles Marineris as seen in this mosaic of Viking orbiter images. Noctis Labyrinthus at the left, Melas Chasma in the middle, Hebes Chasma just left of top center, Eos Chasma at lower right and Ganges Chasma just above center right. Credit: NASA/JPL[/caption]

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com