View of the ODS in the Atlantis payload bay prior to docking

STS079-824-081 (16-26 Sept. 1996) --- In this 70mm frame from the space shuttle Atlantis, the Jordan River Valley can be traced as it separates Lebanon, Palestine and Israel on the west, from Syria and Jordan on the east. The river flows along the Dead Sea rift; the east side of the fault zone (Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia) has moved north about 100 kilometers relative to the west side (Lebanon, Israel, Egypt) during the past 24 million years. The Dead Sea and Sea of Galilee are in depressions formed where faults of the zone diverge or step over. The Dead Sea once covered the area of salt evaporation pans (the bright blue water). The lagoon, barrier islands and evaporite deposits (bright white) along the Mediterranean coast of the Sinai Peninsula (lower left of frame) are just east of Port Said.