Image: Memphis from space
Fifty years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. came to Memphis, Tennessee to support striking sanitation workers. He delivered the famous speech known as "I've Been to the Mountaintop" from the Mason Temple in Memphis on April 3, 1968, and was assassinated at the Lorrain Motel (now the National Civil Rights Museum) just a day later, on April 4. Today, we honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the 50th anniversary of his death.
The city of Memphis, Tennessee is seen from low Earth orbit in this photograph taken by astronauts aboard the International Space Station. Memphis is located on high bluffs above the flood levels of the Mississippi River, where Tennessee adjoins Arkansas and Mississippi.
The city has long served as a land-water transportation hub, and that is still visible in the barge traffic on the river (opposite Mud Island) and on several interstate highways passing through. Bridges for two interstates cross the river, and cast their shadows on the water; on the right side of the river, historic sites in downtown Memphis can be seen in a of the image.
Provided by NASA