The astronauts photographed most of the Mediterranean Sea, the Himalayas Mountain range, Japan, southeast Asia, southern Australia, all of Africa and the southern half of the United States, including Washington D.C. and parts of Colorado. Good weather conditions also allowed the crew to capture views at oblique angles of higher northern latitude areas in the United States such as Indiana, the Great Lakes, New England and the Yellowstone Plateau of northwestern Wyoming. The photographic documentation of Earth observations is dependent on several factors including weather, lighting and crew activities. A change in launch time would affect lighting conditions at planned observation points while steering maneuvers may turn orbiter windows away from the Earth. Crew activities often are rescheduled during missions, precluding some planned observations.
Clouds also can frequently interfere with planned photography.
A large assortment of cameras, lenses and films were carried on the shuttle, and the astronauts participated in a series of Earth science training sessions prior to their flight. Following the mission, people working on the Space Shuttle Earth Observations Project catalog each photograph for an electronic data base which is used by hundreds of researchers. The astronauts captured a dramatic scene of the south coast of Africa, including the southernmost point on the continent, Cape Agulhas. In 1488, Bartholomew Diaz, the Portuguese explorer, landed at Mossel Bay, between Cape Agulhas and Port Elizabeth. This was the first time European voyagers are known to have rounded the Cape of Good Hope in their quest to reach India by sea.