Sometimes we forget that everything that exists isn’t present exclusively on our planet. Seeing the Earth from beyond the atmosphere grants us some unique feelings. It can remind us about how truly fragile we are in the Cosmos, or it can tell us how much more there is to explore about nature. Perhaps it all depends on the perception and personality of each individual.
Thomas Pesquet, who is an astronaut of the ESA (the European Space Agency), provides the world an astonishing image from the cupola of the International Space Station.
A night picture from the Cupola: sometimes star lights battle it out with city lights for who’s the brightest and more beautiful. ???? #MissionAlpha https://t.co/9Tt9liMl3C pic.twitter.com/rEtGYfWu0Y
— Thomas Pesquet (@Thom_astro) September 5, 2021
Pesquet explains how difficult it is to capture such an image, as cited by CNET:
Not only do you as a photographer have to stay extremely still holding the camera, but also the Space Station moves so fast that there will be some motion anyway.
The International Space Station (ISS) zips around the Earth so fast that it completes a full orbit around our planet in roughly 90 minutes. The ISS is a project of five participating space agencies (NASA, the European Space Agency, JAXA from Japan, Roscosmos from Russia, and the Canadian Space Agency), and despite its huge success, it’s approaching retirement.
NASA officials hope that commercial labs will replace the International Space Station. The ISS could retire in 2024. Bill Nelson, who is the NASA Administrator, expects the space station to last until 2030.
The space flight program of the European Space Agency (ESA) is pretty interesting. It includes the launch and operation of unmanned exploration missions to the Moon and other planets, human spaceflight that is mainly through the participation of the ISS, and more.