Astronomy picture of the day 31-08-2014 - Space Shuttle and Space Station Photographed Together

2014 August 31

Space Shuttle and Space Station Photographed Together
Image Credit: NASA

Explanation: How was this picture taken? Usually, pictures of the shuttle, taken from space, are snapped from the space station. Commonly, pictures of thespace station are snapped from theshuttle. How, then, can there be a picture of both theshuttle and the station together, taken from space? The answer is that during the Space Shuttle Endeavour's last trip to theInternational Space Station in 2011 May, asupply ship departed the station with astronauts that captured aseries of rare views. The supply ship was the RussianSoyuz TMA-20 which landed inKazakhstanlater that day. The above spectacular image well captures the relative sizes of the station and docked shuttle. Far below, clouds of Earth areseen above a blue sea.