Panoramic photo is 6,000 miles long and 120 miles wide Nasa's Landsat Data Continuity Mission captured the swath of land 438 miles above the Earth Photo stretches from northern Russia to South Africa 56 still images form the panoramic mosaic

By Victoria Woollaston

PUBLISHED: 04:25 EST, 20 May 2013 | UPDATED: 05:45 EST, 20 May 2013

Nasa has captured the world's largest panoramic photo at 6,000 miles long and 120 miles wide using a satellite orbiting 438 miles above the Earth.

The swath is made up of 56 still images taken during the satellite's final orbit and stretches from northern Russia down to South Africa.

Nasa's Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) scanned the surface of the Earth during orbit in April and took just 15 minutes to take the shots.

Zoom in in the full image below (may not work on all devices)

Image of the globe showing the swath of land captured by Nasa's Land Data Continuity Mission as it orbited the Earth at 17,000 miles per hour. The seamless swath is made up of 56 images travelling from northern Russia, over the Red Sea and down into South Africa. The camera took just 15 minutes to shoot the panoramic image, which is 6,000 miles long and 120 miles wide

The LDCM travels at 438 miles (705 kilometres) above the Earth.

It orbits at speeds of around 17,000 miles per hour.

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Nasa satellite captures stunning 6,000-mile-long panoramic photo of Earth in just 15 minutes