PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
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PHOTO CAPTION                                     GALILEO
December 22, 1992                                 P-41493
                              TOP                 GLL/EM21


This false-color mosaic of the central part of the Andes
mountains of South America (70W, 19S) is made up of 42 images
taken by the Galileo spacecraft from an altitude of about 25,000
kilometers (15,000 miles).  The combination of visible and near-
infrared filters (green, 0.76 micron and 1.0 micron) was chosen
for this picture to separate regions with distinct vegetation and
soil types.  The mosaic shows the area where Chile, Peru, and
Bolivia meet.  North is to the left, and the Pacific coast
(bottom of picture) is in the foreground.  Lakes Titicaca and
Poopo are nearly black patches left to right; a large light blue
area below and left of Lake Poopo is Salar de Uyuni, a dry salt
lake some 120 kilometers (75 miles) across.  These lakes lie in
the Altiplano, a region between the western and eastern Andes,
which are covered by clouds.  The water/ice content of the clouds
is indicated by their shade of pink.  The vegetated Gran Chaco
plains east of the Andes are pale green (top of picture).  Light
blue patches in the mountains to the north (left) are glaciers.
The Galileo project, whose primary mission is the exploration o®f
the Jupiter system in 1995-97, is managed for NASA's Office of
Space Science and Applications by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

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