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whirlybird tours of the Grand Canyon can supply a bird’s - eye view of the iconic landmark . But that ’s nothing compared to what astronauts see as they speed over northern Arizona in theInternational Space Station .
In a new image hire from orbit , the Grand Canyon is seeable fade through the Kaibab Plateau , which is part of the expansive Colorado Plateau of Arizona , Utah , Colorado and New Mexico . The photograph was carry by the Expedition 39 crew aboard the ISS on March 25 , 2014 , according toNASA ’s Earth Observatory .
The Grand Canyon as seen from the International Space Station on Marc h 25, 2014.
In the figure , the canon ’s forested North and South Rims are visible on either side of the canon . The pop South Rim , which hosts about 90 percentage of the Grand Canyon ’s 5 million visitant a year , average out about 7,000 feet ( 2,134 measure ) in meridian , according to the National Park Service . The remote North Rim is about 1,000 feet ( 305 yard ) higher . Its cooler climes mean that road to the North Rim are fold October through May each year .
Between the two rims , the Grand Canyon plunges a mil ( 1.6 km ) through layer of schist , sandstone , limestone and more . The Colorado River cut up the 227 - river - mile ( 446 kilometers ) canon over trillion of year as the Colorado Plateau experienced a tectonic uplift . The amount oftime it took to carve the Canyonis a subject of major public debate . On one side are researchers who see the canyon as " young " — The gorge as it is today is about 6 million years old , cut up out by the Colorado River after it changed course some 11 million years ago . But some research points to section of the canyondating back 70 million years . Some researchers see these old sections as evidence of the descent of the Grand Canyon , while others debate that they are in fact " paleo - canyons " carved long ago that the Colorado River but found and flowed into . Others argue that these sections comprise the beginning of today ’s canyon . The public debate is intensified by gaps in the geological criminal record and recent , complicated tectonic changes in the part .
Whatever its eld , the Grand Canyon ’s beauty remains a drawing card , even from space . The earthbound can get a close - up look at the canon for free this weekend ( April 19 and 20 ) for National Park Week .
