These cumulus thunderheads near Sao Paulo, Brazil, looking like rampaging cauliflowers, were photographed from almost directly overhead by the 41-B crew. This perspective conveys something of the energy that drives these cloud columns to punch up into the atmosphere. The foreshortening resulting from the near-vertical viewing angle disguises the fact that the cloudheads so prominently in view are but the tops of massive thunderhead storm clouds that can tower up to 60,000 feet in the tropics.

STS 41-B, February 1984. Picture #11-41-2343.

Right click here to download a high-resolution version of the image (8.81 MB)