SPACEPHOTOS

The areas of Seattle and Tacoma are the focus of this west-looking, low-oblique photograph. Tacoma, visible near the left center, is located on Puget Sound’s Commencement Bay at the mouth of the Puyallup River. A major seaport and railroad terminus, the city is also one of the chief industrial cities of the Pacific Northwest, producing lumber, aluminum, candy, boats, and copper and wood products. It is home to several commercial fisheries and fish canneries and has a flourishing tourism industry. Seattle is visible near the right center of the photograph. Also discernible in this photograph are Puget Sound’s Vashon Island, just west of Seattle; Bremerton and its naval shipyards; and the valleys of the Puyallup and Green Rivers. Not visible is Mount Rainier Volcano to the southeast whose eruption could result in the destruction of homes, businesses, and major transportation routes because of the debris from melted ice and snow cascading through these valleys.