Earth Obsersation taken by the Expedition 11 crew

ISS011-E-09913 (24 May 2005) --- Irkutsk, Siberia, Russian Federation is featured in this image photographed by an Expedition 11 crewmember on the International Space Station. Located approximately 55 kilometers (34 miles) to the northwest of Lake Baikal, Irkutsk is also the chief city of Irkutsk Oblast (equating to a province) in Siberia. The city is located on the Angara River. The central downtown area of the city is depicted in this photograph, as well as the Akademgorodok district around the State University (left of image along the southern bank of the Angara River). The oblique (non-vertical) look angle of this image imparts a three dimension perspective to the scene that accentuates the blockiness of Soviet-era building projects to the east of the downtown area. The Irkutsk Dam (center), built for the generation of hydroelectric power, dramatically widened the river and drowned several stream outlet channels along the north and south banks. The Angara River is the only outlet from Lake Baikal to the southeast, and impoundment of water behind the dam has raised the lake level by 6 meters (20 ft).