S09-32-1172 (100 mm)
Flight STS-9; 29.5N, 122E, 28 Nov 1983
Orbiting tail-down over the China coast during the first Spacelab flight, the commander
and pilot of the Columbia observed the bright blue Nimrod Bay standing out amid the
brown, muddy waters and plains that surround the rugged coastline. Surveyed by HMS
Nimrod in 1852, the embayment is one of the few in Xiang Shau Gano into which no
rivers carry mud from the hinterlands. As a result, sediment coming in from the sea on
the rising tide settles quickly, leaving relatively clear blue water that then protrudes seaward
on the falling tide. This was the case as the Columbia passed over.
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Atmos Composition
