Rongelap
- ISS006-E-5963
- 08 December 2002
- 01:32 UTC
Located at the northwestern end of the Ralik chain, some 200 km north from Kwajalein and 120 km east-southeast from Bikini Atoll, Rongelap (Ronglap) is the central member of tight linear grouping of three atolls that stretch from east to west for 140 km across the northern end of the Ralik chain of atolls. The other members of this trio, Rongerik and Ailinginae lie 32 km to the east and 13 km to the southwest, respectively.
Rongelap is the second largest atoll of the Marshall Islands, with an irregularly-shaped lagoon covering an area of over 1,004 km². However, in terms of a land area, its 61 islets have a total area of only 7.9 km².
The lagoon is open to the sea at several points, including the 2 km wide South Pass (visible at the bottom-left of the image) and the wide Kaeroga Pass to the west of South Pass. The three passes of Northeast Pass, Gogan Pass, and Enybarbar Pass on the northeast side (right) are also clearly visible in this image.
image: earth sciences and image analysis laboratory, nasa johnson space center