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Credit: NASA (STS61A-34-0020)

While this blog will focus primarily on the solar system and beyond, the Ministry of Space Exploration won't neglect looking back at our own planet, which is a celestial body as interesting in its own right as any other. Just because we are most familiar with our world doesn't mean that we should take it for granted. This particular part of the Earth, the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York, has special meaning for the Minister of Space Exploration, as this is where he grew up. His hometown does not show on this particular image, but it's not too far from here, and he swam in two of the lakes shown above when he was a child, Keuka (which looks like a "U" on the left edge of the picture, although it's actually "Y" shaped) and Seneca (the lake to the right of Keuka). The Minister has not visited his hometown in over 20 years, but he would like to return there in the future, some day.

Individual agricultural fields are observable in this photograph of the two longest Finger Lakes—Seneca Lake (west) and Cayuga Lake (east). The smaller lake east of Cayuga Lake is Owasco Lake; the city of Auburn, New York, is located along the northern shore of Owasco Lake. While this region is known for general agriculture, dairying is extensive because of the close proximity to the dense population of the Mohawk River - Hudson River lowland from Buffalo to New York City. Grapes are also grown along the Finger Lakes where slopes ensure adequate air movement, which protects against frost, and where proximity to large water surfaces provides some ensurance against low temperatures.

This picture was taken by the crew of STS-61-A (Challenger) in October 1985.