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Credit & Copyright: NASA,
Expedition 22 Crew
Explanation:
What's that approaching?
Astronauts on board the
International Space Station in 2010 first saw it 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 here, 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.
Together, these thin layers of air -- collectively spanning less than 2 percent of
Earth's radius --
sustain
us all in many ways,
including providing
oxygen to breath and a barrier to
dangerous radiations from space.
Coming up Friday:
Earth
Day 2022
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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
Publications with words: space shuttle
See also: