This majestic view of the International Space Station (ISS) in front of the Earth was taken from the space shuttle Discovery after undocking. The crew of the shuttle mission STS-119 successfully delivered and installed on the ISS the last set of solar-array wings before returning home on the 28 March. The ISS is still missing a few modules but it now looks complete. When the solar arrays are in the ideal orientation to reflect sunlight, the ISS becomes the second brightest object in the night sky, after the Moon, but brighter than Venus. The ISS orbits the Earth 15 times a day at an altitude of about 350 km. Its assembly started in 1998 and will be finished by 2011.
Image credit: NASA.
CERN Courier
Apr 29, 2009