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Credit & Copyright: Space Station Expedition
22 Crew,
NASA
Explanation:
What's that approaching?
Astronauts on board the
International Space Station
first saw it in early 2010 far in the distance.
Soon it enlarged to become a
dark silhouette.
As it came even closer, the
silhouette appeared to be a spaceship.
Finally, the object revealed itself to be the
Space Shuttle Endeavour, and it soon docked as expected with the
Earth-orbiting space station.
Pictured
above, Endeavour was imaged near Earth's horizon as it approached, where several
layers of the
Earth's atmosphere were visible.
Directly behind the shuttle is the
mesosphere, which appears blue.
The atmospheric layer that appears white is the
stratosphere,
while the orange layer is Earth's
Troposphere.
This shuttle mission, began with a
dramatic night launch.
Tasks completed during this shuttle's visit to the
ISS included the delivery of the
Tranquility Module which contained a
cupola bay window complex
that allows
even better views of spaceships approaching and leaving
the space station.
Almost Hyperspace:
Random APOD Generator
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: space shuttle - Earth's atmosphere - space station
Publications with words: space shuttle - Earth's atmosphere - space station
See also: