Earth observations taken by the Expedition Seven crew

ISS007-E-15222 (22 September 2003) --- This view in southern Peru, photographed by an Expedition 7 crewmember onboard the International Space Station (ISS), features the Toquepala copper mine, a steep sided and stepped open-pit mine. Mid-afternoon sunlight of the arid slopes of the central Andes Mountains provides an accent to the mine contours. At the surface the open pit is 6.5 kilometers across and it descends more than 3000 meters into the earth. A dark line on the wall of the pit is the main access road to the bottom.