Lanai
and Molokai
as seen from space
Photo courtesy of NASA
The islands of Lanai and Molokai in the Hawaiian Island chain can be seen in this north-looking, low-oblique photograph.
The islands are volcanic in origin, edged with coral reefs, and feature mild climates and generally fertile soils. Lanai Island, the smaller of the two islands with 141 square miles (365 square kilometers), is separated from Molokai by the Kalohi Channel.
The island was originally used for growing sugarcane and grazing cattle. The entire island was purchased in 1922 by a large pineapple company and developed as a pineapple growing center. It is now owned by Richard Murdock and the Castle and Cooke Company and is devoted entirely to tourism.
Molokai, covering 262 square miles (676 square kilometers), is 40 miles (64 kilometers) long and 7 miles (11 kilometers) wide. The generally hilly island, with volcanic mountains at both ends, has many cattle ranches and pineapple plantations.
On the north coast, separated from
the rest of the island by a rocky mountain wall and accessible only by passing
over a 2000-foot (610-meter) pass, is Kalaupapa Peninsula (approximately at the
center of the shoreline). This peninsula was the site of a Government leper
colony established in 1860 by Father Damien, a Belgian missionary, who was the
administrator of the colony until his death.
This photo was taken on the STS-26
(Space Shuttle) mission in September of 1988.
return to Hawaii from Space Photo Gallery
