Who says NASA needs its budget cut? Not after dropping eye candy like this on us: Here’s a beautiful shot of Mt. Everest with Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay’s first ascent overlaid on it.

Here’s what the NASA folks had to say:

This image, captured by GeoEye’s Ikonos satellite on November 29, 2001, shows an approximation of the route Hillary and Norgay followed, and some of the challenges Hillary and Norgay (and hundreds of later climbers) faced as they summited Mount Everest. The two climbers, Hillary from New Zealand and Norgay from Nepal, were part of a British climbing team. The team made their first camp below the Khumbu Ice Fall, a steep, rugged, and fast-moving section of the Khumbu Glacier. The dark lines that cut across the icefall resemble waves, hinting at the constant movement that opens deep crevasses and sends large chunks of ice tumbling freely down the mountain. After successfully crossing the Khumbu Icefall, the team walked up the Western Cwm. The glacial valley is smooth in this image, lacking the relief shown by the steep ridges around it. The Western Cwm leads to the south face of Lhotse and the South Col, a saddle between the pyramid-like peaks of Everest and Lhotse. At 7,920 m (26,000 ft), the South Col is typically the last camp on an Everest ascent, but Hillary and Norgay made their final camp an additional 610 meters (2,000 feet) above this point. A five-hour climb brought Hillary and Norgay to the top of the world.

Read more and download 1MB high-res image here.

That image link doesn’t seem to be working. This one does:

Read more and download 1MB high-res image here.

Tagged as: asia, himalaya, mountaineering, space