Robert Simmon / NASA / GSFC / METI / ERSDAC / JAROS

The ASTER instrument on NASA's Terra satellite captured this false-color image of Moore, Okla., on June 2, two weeks after a powerful tornado swept through. The scar left by the tornado can be seen as a brownish streak slashing across the image.

The photos and videos taken on the ground after a powerful tornado tore through the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore on May 20 showed the human scale of the destruction. Now a satellite image shows the full scale of the disaster, with the trail of damage the tornado left visible as a scar across the landscape.

The twister touched down at 2:56 p.m. CT, 4.4 miles (7.1 kilometers) west of the town of Newcastle, and was on the ground for about 40 minutes, barreling through Moore and finally dissipating 4.8 miles (7.7 kilometers) east of the city at 3:35 p.m. CT, according to National Weather Service surveyors. The total path of the tornado was 17 miles (27 kilometers) long and 1.3 miles (2.1 kilometers) across at its widest. The tornado started and ended its life as an EF0, the lowest rating on the Enhanced Fujita scale, but at its peak, it was a terrible EF5, the highest ranking on the scale.

The path of the tornado can be seen in the damage it left on the ground, particularly at its strongest points, in an image captured by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on NASA's Terra satellite on June 2 — more than two weeks after the tornado hit. The ASTER image, featured by NASA's Earth Observatory, presents a false-color view, with green, red and infrared wavelengths of light combined to distinguish particular features on the ground. In the image, water is blue, vegetation is red, and buildings and paved surfaces are a blue-gray. The damage path of the tornado is the jagged beige streak running from left to right across the image; the lack of color across it is a mark of the vegetation that was lost during the storm, Earth Observatory notes.

Satellites also captured the tornado outbreak from above, tracking the supercell thunderstorms that spawn tornadoes.

The Moore tornado killed 24 people and injured 387, according to the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management. Final assessments on the damage haven't been completed, the department notes, but an estimated 1,150 homes were destroyed and the total damage is estimated at $2 billion.

The Moore tornado was followed 11 days later by another EF5 tornado near the town of El Reno, Okla., to the west of Oklahoma City. That tornado is the widest on record, measuring 2.6 miles (4.2 kilometers) across at its biggest. It was responsible for the deaths of three storm chasers.

Follow Andrea Thompson @AndreaTOAP, Pinterest and Google+. Follow us @livescience, Facebook and Google+. Original article on LiveScience.com.

• Oklahoma's EF-5 Tornado Scar Seen From Space | Video
• Image Gallery: Moore, Okla., Tornado Damage - May 20, 2013
• 4 Things You Need to Know About Tornado Season

Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

DigitalGlobe via Getty Images

Satellite image taken on April 19, 2013 of the West Fertilizer Plant after an explosion occurred on April 17.

DigitalGlobe via Getty Images

Satellite images of West, Texas, before and after the Fertilizer Plant explosion. The image on the left was taken on Jan. 30, 2012, and the image on the right was taken on April 19, 2013.

The satellite images above provided by DigitalGlobe show the destructive force of the fertilizer plant explosion that rocked the small town of West, Texas, with the force of a magnitude-2.1 earthquake last Wednesday evening.

The pictures show the debris field that surrounds West Fertilizer Co., the remains of the two tanks which held highly pressurized anhydrous ammonia, the 50-unit apartment building west of the plant with its walls torn off, the damaged West Intermediate School at the lower left corner of the images, and many of the damaged homes.

West has only about 2,700 residents, but the affected area is in a densely populated neighborhood.

Related links:

• Aerials show huge blast zone in West, Texas
• Massive blast rocks small Texas town
• First person: West, my hometown, is gone
• Officials still don't know what caused Texas fertilizer explosion

Slideshow: West, Texas: 'They are all neighbors'

/

In this small Texas town, people pitch in to help out following the deadly blast at a local fertilizer plant.

Launch slideshow

GeoEye

Mayapan's ruins are surrounded by forests in this picture, captured by GeoEye's Ikonos satellite on Sept. 19, 2001.

This satellite image of the ruins of Mayapan, on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, hints at the apocalypse that befell a Maya kingdom hundreds of years ago.

Mayapan is considered Mexico's last Maya capital, and represents one of the largest assemblages of Maya ruins in the Yucatan. The city was built after the Maya revolted against the lords of Chichen Itza. The largest pyramid is the Castle ("El Castillo") of Kukulkan, made as a smaller replica of Chichen Itza's El Castillo pyramid. Mayapan also is home to many circular buildings, or observatories. The Maya's astronomical knowledge helped them predict the exact time of solar and planetary events and aided in the creation of precise calendars.

 The city reached its zenith in the 13th century, but in the mid-1400s, factional strife led to Mayapan's decline. The rulers were killed off by a rival family during a revolt, important buildings were set ablaze, and the city was largely abandoned. By the year 1500, an epidemic drove out the stragglers. The University at Albany's Mayapan Archaeology website delves more deeply into the city's life and death.

This overhead view of Mayapan was captured by GeoEye's Ikonos satellite in 2001, from a height of 423 miles (681 kilometers). It serves as a tribute to the Maya calendar turnover on Dec. 21, as a celebration of the day's non-apocalypse — and as the latest addition to the Cosmic Log Space Advent Calendar, which has been serving up views of Earth from space on a daily basis during the holiday season. Follow the links below to catch up on the calendar's previous entries:

• 2012 Cosmic Log Space Advent Calendar
• Day 1: A fantastic Chinese fan
• Day 2: Satellite shows a Grander Canyon
• Day 3: Typhoon stirs awe — and alarm
• Day 4: Glittering nighttime view of Riyadh
• Day 5: Night lights shine on 'Black Marble'
• Day 6: Holy sites seen at night
• Day 7: Blue Marble still leaves its mark
• Day 8: Satellites look into a volcano's hell
• Day 9: Jack Frost nipping at Alaska's nose
• Day 10: Cosmonaut looks down on peaks
• Day 11: Earth looms above moonwalker
• Day 12: Skytree casts shadow on Tokyo
• Day 13: Aurora sets stage for meteor show
• Day 14: Apollo's last look at Earthrise
• Day 15: A sobering moment from space
• Day 16: Middle Earth spotted from orbit
• Day 17: Mount Etna erupts ... in 3-D!
• Day 18: Gaze into the Great Blue Hole
• Day 19: Mount Fuji goes fuzzy
• 2011 Cosmic Log Space Advent Calendar
• 2010 Cosmic Log Space Advent Calendar
• The Atlantic: Hubble Advent Calendar
• Zooniverse Advent Calendar

Jiji Press / AFP - Getty Images

This trace of a moving light is made by Japan's H-IIA, launched from the Tanegashima space center in Kagoshima prefecture on Friday.

NHK reports: Japan's space agency, JAXA, successfully launched an H2A rocket carrying a foreign satellite early Friday.

It was the first commercial launch of a Japanese rocket based on a commission from overseas.

Follow @msnbc_pictures

•Sign up for the msnbc.com Photos Newsletter

GeoEye satellite image

This half-meter resolution image shows icefields near Adelaide Island (on the west), lying at the north side of Marguerite Bay off the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. GeoEye tasked its GeoEye-1 satellite to collect this image on April 18.

For commercial imaging satellites, every day is Earth Day: In honor of today's eco-conscious holiday, GeoEye is releasing four recent snapshots of the planet, taken by the company's GeoEye-1 satellite as it orbited 423 miles (681 kilometers) above.

Earth Day isn't just a day for pretty pictures. It's also an occasion to reflect on the state of the planet. This picture of broken-up icefields near Adelaide Island, off the coast of the Antarctic Peninsula, is a reminder that our planet's changing climate is a continuing cause of concern. The Antarctic Peninsula is considered one of the world's fastest-warming "hotspots," as documented by imagery from Europe's Envisat satellite.

"Ice shelves are sensitive to atmospheric warming and to changes in ocean currents and temperatures," Helmut Rott, a professor from the University of Innsbruck in Austria, explained in a statement issued earlier this month. "The northern Antarctic Peninsula has been subject to atmospheric warming of about 2.5 degrees Celsius [4.5 degrees Fahrenheit] over the last 50 years —a much stronger warming trend than on global average, causing retreat and disintegration of ice shelves."

Antarctica's situation serves as a "canary in the coal mine" for the effects of global climate change and the greenhouse-gas effect, to which industrial activity is an increasing contributor. But this isn't just an issue for penguins around the South Pole, or polar bears around the North Pole. Opinion surveys indicate that the public is increasingly seeing a connection between global changes in climate and the way weather works in their own region.

For more about the Antarctic Peninsula in particular, check out this report about the effect of climate change on penguin breeding patterns, this one about concerns for seal pups, this one about the encroachment of invasive species, and this video from 2007 about the continent's shrinking "cathedral of ice." Msnbc.com's Environment section has complete coverage of today's Earth Day goings-on.

Where in the Cosmos
GeoEye's picture of the Antarctic Peninsula was the subject of our latest "Where in the Cosmos" picture puzzle, posted to the Cosmic Log Facebook page. Stacy Thompson Layman was the Cosmic Log correspondent who first came up with the location shown in the picture (after a few hints), and to reward her late-night effort, I'm sending her a pair of 3-D glasses and a copy of "The World in 2050: Four Forces Shaping Civilization's Northern Future," which makes for relevant reading on Earth Day. To get in on future "Where in the Cosmos" puzzle contests, be sure to click the "like" button for Cosmic Log. Here are the three other GeoEye-1 snapshots:

GeoEye satellite image

A curl of land at the tip of Australia's Towra Point Nature Reserve, located on the southern shores of Botany Bay, looks a bit like an elephant and its trunk. A boat speeds through the bay at upper left. Situated on an ancient river delta deposit, the Towra Point reserve is designated as a wetland of international importance because it is a breeding ground and home to many vulnerable, protected or endangered species with diverse habitats. There is also a Towra Point Aquatic Nature Reserve in the surrounding waterways. GeoEye tasked its GeoEye-1 satellite to collect this image on Feb. 19.

GeoEye satellite image

This GeoEye satellite image shows a portion of the D. Ering Wildlife Sanctuary off the Siang River, directly above the Dibru-Saikhowa National Park, located about 7.5 miles (12 kilometers) north of Tinsukia, Assam, India. The sanctuary is named after the late legendary social reformer Daying Ering. The sanctuary consists of a series of islands in the Siang River that are home to endangered animals and many migratory birds. GeoEye tasked its GeoEye-1 satellite to collect this image on March 17.

GeoEye satellite image

This half-meter resolution image shows the Okavango Delta (or Okavango Swamp), located in Botswana in central southern Africa. The Okavango is the world's largest inland delta and formed where the Okavango River empties onto a swamp and into a basin in the Kalahari Desert. Most of the water is lost to evaporation and transpiration instead of draining into the sea. Botswana is one of the world's most ecologically sensitive areas. The Moremi Game Reserve spreads across the eastern side of the delta. GeoEye tasked its GeoEye-1 satellite to collect this image on April 12.

More views of Earth from space:

• Slideshow: Earth as Art 2010
• See the world from the space station
• Slideshow: How astronauts saw Earth
• Holiday calendar 2011: Earth from space

David Guttenfelder / AP

The satellite that North Korean officials say will be launched with the country's Unha-3 rocket, slated for liftoff between April 12-16, is shown to the media at Sohae Satellite Station in Tongchang-ri, North Korea on April 8. North Korean space officials have moved a long-range rocket into position for this week's controversial satellite launch, vowing Sunday to push ahead with their plans in defiance of international warnings against violating a ban on missile activity.

David Guttenfelder / AP

A North Korean soldier tries to keep order as journalists gather around the North Korean satellite.

North Korea maintains that the launch is a scientific achievement intended to improve the nation's faltering economy by providing detailed surveys of the countryside.

"Our country has the right and also the obligation to develop satellites and launching vehicles," Jang Myong Jin, general manager of the launch facility, said during a tour, citing the U.N. space treaty. "No matter what others say, we are doing this for peaceful purposes."

-- Reported by the Associated Press

Follow @msnbc_pictures

Pedro Ugarte / AFP - Getty Images

North Korean technicians work in the control room of the Tongchang-ri space center on April 8.

Ng Han Guan / AP

A North Korean waitress serves packaged meals for lunch on a train heading to North Phyongan Province, 35 miles south of the border town of Sinuiju along North Korea's west coast, April 8. North Korean officials escorted a group of international media by train from Pyongyang to see the country's Unha-3 rocket, slated for liftoff between April 12-16, at Sohae Satellite Station in Tongchang-ri, North Korea.

David Guttenfelder / AP

A North Korean soldier stands at a check point seen from a train heading to North Phyongan Province.

Bobby Yip / Reuters

A conductor displays flag signals to a passing-by train outside a station featuring a portrait of North Korean founder Kim Il Sung northwest of Pyongyang, April 8.

Pedro Ugarte / AFP - Getty Images

The North Korean Unha-3 rocket is pictured at Tangachai -ri space center on April 8.

DigitalGlobe

A satellite image shows the wreck of the Costa Concordia off the island of Giglio, Italy, on Jan. 17, 2012. The luxury cruise ship ran aground on Jan. 13.

The Costa Concordia had more than 4,200 passengers and crew on board when it slammed into a reef Friday off the tiny Tuscan island of Giglio. At least 23 remained unaccounted for Wednesday, according to Reuters.

The captain in charge of the specialist divers searching the stricken vessel told NBC News that they need to blow four more holes in it to gain access to the bottom of the cruise ship. 

Read more about the rescue and recovery operation and see more images of the disaster on PhotoBlog or in the slideshow below.

For more fresh perspectives on the world, take a look back at the Cosmic Log Space Advent Calendar.

Slideshow: Luxury cruise ship runs aground

Andreas Solaro / AFP - Getty Images

Launch slideshow

Searching for images of the huge ice island headed towards Newfoundland that we reported on last night, I contacted the MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. They have kindly shared with us the image below, taken by their Terra satellite on Wednesday, which shows the island as a solid white shape close to the center of the frame.

NASA/GSFC, Rapid Response

Iceberg PII-A is seen off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada on July 20th at 14.25 UTC, photographed from the Terra satellite.

msnbc.com reports:

A Manhattan-sized chunk of ice that broke off a glacier in Greenland nearly a year ago is drifting toward the coast of Newfoundland, Canada — providing a stunning sight to scientists and curiosity-seekers but also posing a potential threat to ships.

The ice island is 20 square miles — roughly 6.2 miles long and 3.1 miles wide. It was formed when a 97-square-mile chunk of ice broke off Greenland's Petermann Glacier on Aug. 5, 2010, possibly due to warming of the Atlantic Ocean. Continue reading.