This photo of a total solar eclipse was taken from the International Space Station on March 29, 2006. The photo was taken by a crew member of the Expedition 12 mission. The island of Cyprus and the coast of Turkey can be seen from the image.

Eclipsed Earth

 STS-29 Onboard photo – External Tank Separation

 This photo of the external tank after separation with the space shuttle Discovery was captured from the International Space Station during the STS-29 mission in 1989. The external tank or ET is an important component of a space shuttle flight since it supplies the fuel and oxidizer under pressure to the three space shuttle main engines.

STS-29 Onboard photo - External Tank Separation

This breathtaking photo moon and the earth’s atmosphere was taken from the International Space Station by an Expedition 10 crew member in October 2004. Expedition 10 crew members, Leroy Chiao and Salizhan Sharipov relieved the two Expedition 9 crew members, Mike Fincke and Gennady Padalka.

Moon Aglow

How similar in size are the Earth and the Moon? A dramatic visual answer to this question is found by combining photographs taken by the Mariner 10 spacecraft that headed out toward Venus and Mercury in 1973. The Moon can be seen to have a diameter over one quarter that of Earth, relatively large compared to its planetary companion. In our Solar System, only Pluto and Charon are closer together in size. Striking features of the Earth visible to the passing spacecraft include blue oceans and white clouds, showing the Earth to be truly a water world.

Earth & Moon

This amazing photo of the sunlit earth particularly portions of the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean was captured by Apollo 17 in October 20, 1968. Apollo 17 is the eleventh manned space mission of the Apollo program.

Image 1:

The International Space Station is the largest object ever constructed by humans in space. The station perimeter now extends over roughly the area of a football field, although only a small fraction of this is composed of modules habitable by humans. The station is so large that it could not be launched all at once — it is being built piecemeal with large sections added continually by flights of the Space Shuttle. To function, the ISS needs huge trusses, some over 15 meters long and with masses over 10,000 kilograms, to keep it rigid and to route electricity and liquid coolants. Pictured here, part of the immense space station was photographed out of a window by a member of the visiting Space Shuttle Discovery STS-131 crew. Visible in the foreground is Japan’s Kibo research module, while a large truss is visible toward the left. On the far right, a crescent Earth slices through the blackness of space.

A Large Space Station Over Earth Credit: STS-131 Crew, Expedition 23 Crew, NASA

Image 2:

(9 Feb. 2010) — Backdropped by Earth’s horizon and the blackness of space, the International Space Station is featured in this image photographed by an STS-130 crew member as space shuttle Endeavour and the station approach each other during rendezvous and docking activities. Docking occurred at 11:06 p.m. (CST) on Feb. 9, 2010, delivering the Tranquility node and its Cupola.

Credit NASA

Image 3:

Astronaut Stephen Robinson rides the 17-meter-long Canadarm2 during the STS-114 mission of the space shuttle Discovery to the ISS in August of 2005. The Canadarm2 aboard the ISS has multiple joints and is capable of maneuvering payloads as massive as 116,000 kilograms, equivalent to a fully loaded bus.

Credit: NASA

Image 4:

High above New Zealand and Cook Strait, astronauts Robert L. Curbeam and Christer Fuglesang work to attach a new truss segment to the ISS and begin to upgrade the power grid on December 12th, 2006

Credit: NASA

Image 5:

A view of southern Egypt, Lake Nasser, and circular fields north of Sudan, seen from the International Space Station on March 1st, 2010. (NASA/JSC)

Credit: NASA

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