NASA has shared a new set of photos showing the International Space Station (ISS) in orbit.
The images were taken by astronaut Thomas Pesquet aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft as it performed a flyaround of the orbiting outpost earlier this month.
The flight took place at the start of the journey home for Pesquet and three fellow Crew-2 astronauts following a six-month stay aboard the space station.
The pictures were taken with a Nikon D5 DSLR camera, the same camera that Pesquet used to capture many of his amazing Earth images during his time aboard the ISS.
Pesquet’s ISS images show the satellite from multiple angles, with both the blackness of space and Earth 250 miles below serving as a backdrop.
Prominent in most of the photos are the space station’s large solar arrays that help to power the facility.
The ISS went into operation two decades ago and functions as a space-based laboratory that allows astronauts from multiple countries to conduct scientific experiments in microgravity conditions.
The space station is traveling at about 17,500 mph, orbiting Earth once every 90 minutes or so.
The station is 356 feet (109 meters) end-to-end, “one yard shy of the full length of an American football field including the end zones,” NASA says.
The space agency describes the facility’s living and working space as “larger than a six-bedroom house (and has six sleeping quarters, two bathrooms, a gym, and a 360-degree view bay window).”
To find out more about how astronauts spend their time aboard the space station, check out these fascinating videos made aboard the ISS over the last 20 years.
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