Approach above Sunset
Image Credit: ESA, NASA
Explanation: There it is! The Cygnus supply ship was a welcome sight to the astronauts on the
International Space Station just over a week ago.
Launched three days before on a
United Launch Alliance Atlas V from
Cape Canaveral, Florida, the
Orbital ATK's
Cygnus spacecraft approached the
International Space Station above the backdrop of a picturesque planet Earth. The Sun was setting off
the image to the upper left, illuminating clouds well below the approaching vehicle. The robotic
Cygnus spacecraft was captured first on camera and
later with the space station's
Canadarm2 by ESA's Flight Engineer
Thomas Pesquet and NASA's
Expedition-51 Commander
Peggy Whitson. Commander
Whitson, a
biochemist, has now set a
new American record for the most total days in space. Besides essentials, the Cygnus carried equipment to bolster over 200
science experiments being conducted on the football-field sized
Earth-orbiting outpost.
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