Astronomy Picture of the Day
Discover the cosmos!
Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is
featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
2014 August 3
Dark Shuttle Approaching
Image Credit:
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
Tomorrow's picture: dark moon venting
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Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(
MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell (
UMCP)
NASA Official: Phillip Newman
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NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
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