A NASA image captures differing Arctic ice formations.

NASA provides us with extraordinary glimpses into space. But given its capability, NASA also provides us unique visuals of Earth.

Recently, one of the featured images depicted ice-covered Wolstenholme Fjord and Saunders Island.

Kap Atholl resides in the background of the photograph.

The aerial image was taken during a survey mission deemed ‘Operation IceBridge'. The picture provides a huge contrast between ice and flowing water, as some of the area is completely covered in a bright white sheet of ice, while a portion of the surroundings can be seen with much thinner grease ice.

NASA authorities described the IceBridge mission stating “It will yield an unprecedented three-dimensional view of Arctic and Antarctic ice sheets, ice shelves and sea ice. These flights will provide a yearly, multi-instrument look at the behavior of the rapidly changing features of the Greenland and Antarctic ice.”

One model predicts that the Arctic will be nearly free of ice during the summer by the year 2020, and the most generous estimate says that the ice will be nearly gone by around 2060.