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Solar panels on the ISS capture light during an orbital sunrise.
NASA / Shane Kimbrough
I love looking at photos taken from the International Space Station. I look at the pyramids, eyeing the aurora and marvel at how the earth can look like mars seen from above. NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough shared a new view of the ISS on Monday and it took my breath away.
It’s like JJ Abrams has been leading a photoshoot from orbit. It’s like these monoliths we were all obsessed with last year in a sci-fi movie. It is beauty. It is grace. He flies in space.
Astronauts aboard the ISS see 16 sunrises and sunsets every day, and this one was very special. “Capturing this orbital sunrise as the sun’s rays reflect off the solar panels and the new IRosa for the first time in this orbit to give the space station the solar energy needed to run this incredible orbiting laboratory.” , Kimbrough tweeted.
Hello Earth! Captured this orbital sunrise as the sun’s rays reflect off solar panels and the new IRosa for the first time in this orbit to give @Space station solar energy to run this incredible orbiting laboratory. pic.twitter.com/5bUgb20zOF
– Shane Kimbrough (@astro_kimbrough) July 12, 2021
IRESA stands for “ISS Roll-Out Solar Array”. The system is a new addition to the station after a series of spacewalks resulted in the installation of two of the networks in June. They unfurled like giant carpets in space and are designed to give the ISS the power it needs.
The technology on display in Kimbrough’s image is cool, but there’s something touching about the makeup. The way solar panels are etched in the distant darkness of space. How the curve of the Earth is illuminated by sunlight. It is a piece of statement, a meeting of nature and humanity and an expression of hope for space exploration.
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Maybe I read a lot in this photo, but at some point billionaires rush into suborbital space, it’s heartwarming to remember how NASA and its international partners worked together to bring the ISS into orbit and keep it going for over 20 years.
An image like this should not be taken for granted. It is a gift from above the world.
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