SPACEPHOTOS

The islands of Lanai and Molokai in the Hawaiian Island chain can be seen in this north-looking, low-oblique photograph. The islands are volcanic in origin, edged with coral reefs, and feature mild climates and generally fertile soils. Lanai Island, the smaller of the two islands with 141 square miles (365 square kilometers), is separated from Molokai by the Kalohi Channel. The island was originally used for growing sugarcane and grazing cattle. The entire island was purchased in 1922 by a large pineapple company and developed as a pineapple growing center. Molokai, covering 262 square miles (676 square kilometers), is 40 miles (64 kilometers) long and 7 miles (11 kilometers) wide. The generally hilly island, with volcanic mountains at both ends, has many cattle ranches and pineapple plantations. On the north coast, separated from the rest of the island by a rocky mountain wall and accessible only by passing over a 2000-foot (610-meter) pass, is Kalaupapa Peninsula (approximately at the center of the shoreline). This peninsula was the site of a Government leper colony established in 1860 by Father Damien, a Belgian missionary, who was the administrator of the colony until his death.