Astronauts aboard the International Space Station captured stunning photos of the Space Shuttle Endeavour over a light-streaked planet, just before the shuttle returns to Earth for the last time.
Endeavour took off on its final mission May 16, carrying a dark matter-hunting instrument and a bobtail squid, among other supplies. The photo above was taken May 28, the day before Endeavour detached from the space station, and the six-person crew began the trip home.
The photo captures the sheer speed of the space station and docked shuttle, which orbit Earth once every 90 minutes. City lights streak by hundreds of miles below, lending a sense of motion and urgency to the otherwise still scene.
The photo below shows Endeavour’s wing backlit by a thin ring of twilight at the edge of the Earth.
Endeavour is scheduled to land at Kennedy Space Center at 2:35 am EDT on June 1, so look up tonight. It’s one of the last chances to see a shuttle and the space station cross the sky close together.
Images: NASA [high-resolution version available]
See Also:
- Look Up: Spectacular Space Station Flybys This Week
- Next-to-Last Shuttle Mission Rockets Into Orbit
- Baby Squid, Bugs and Microbes Launched Into Space
- Astronaut’s Eye View: Time-Lapse Videos of Earth
- NASA Announces Space Shuttles’ Final Homes
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