Astronomy Picture of the Day

Explanation: It was time to go home. During their eight days aboard the Earth-orbiting International Space Station (ISS), ESA Flight Engineer Claudie Haigner, Russian Commander Victor Afanasyev, and Russian Flight Engineer Konstantin Kozeev had completed several experiments and successfully delivered a new lifeboat. The lifeboat was actually the new Soyuz capsule they arrived in -- they returned home in an older Soyuz capsule that had been left six months ago. Haigner, an expert in rheumatology and neuroscience, studied the development of frog embryos under microgravity conditions. Pictured above on October 31, their Soyuz spacecraft undocks from the ISS while dark space and a blue Earth hover in the background.

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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.

Publications with keywords: ISS - Soyuz
Publications with words: ISS - Soyuz
See also:

• ISS and the Summer Milky Way
• Orbiting Astronaut Self Portrait
• A Dark Earth with a Red Sprite
• Perseid Below
• Jupiter and the Moons of Earth
• Flying Over the Earth at Night
• Around the World in 90 Minutes

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