Los Angeles, Calif. This view of Los Angeles, Calif. is part of the data collected by the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM). This mission yielded 3-D measurements of the Earth’s surface elevation, bringing to a comprehensive dataset for the whole planet. The mission, which launched February 11th, 2000, was a cooperative project NASA, National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA), and German and Italian space agencies. It was managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and was performed by Shuttle Endeavour. Combined with Landsat satellite images, such data produce these interesting vistas. Well recognizable here are Santa Monica Bay (left), Long Beach -right of the promontory bottom left, or Los Angeles downtown, the pinky zone near the spike of the mountain range. San Gabriel Mountains are seen top right. Los Angeles is a 15 million people metropolitan area. The urban areas are mostly found in the coastal plain and the surrounding valleys as the adjacent mountains are too rugged to be hospitable to urban development. Los Angeles is home to the famous Hollywood movie industry ... and to the JPL, which is located at Pasadena (unluckily slightly out of view, center right). picture courtesy NASA/JPL/NIMA