Picture: Moon and Mars station

This image was taken by ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst of the International Space Station on June 30, 2018, while the Moon and Mars were to date the closest during his mission Horizons six months.

For illustrative purposes, Mars has been highlighted and enlarged twenty times: the "red planet" has a radius of 3389 km but at the time was about 67 million km from the Earth while the Moon has a radius of 1737 km.

The distance between Mars and the Earth varies because the two planets are orbiting the Sun and it is at its closest in those weeks, appearing brighter than Jupiter in the night sky. The night of July 27 offers another periodic spectacle during the lunar eclipse when the Earth casts its shadow on the moon, which makes our satellite appear in red

With careful planning, it should be possible to see the red planet and the reddish moon. with the International Space Station always flying from west to east. In continental Europe, the Moon will burst and the total eclipse will continue after 23:00 CEST

The International Space Station, Moon and Mars are the destinations of the human and robotic exploration strategy of the Moon. ESA, using low Earth orbit for research and demonstration of technology, development of the service module and Orion elements for a gateway around the Moon and sending robotic probes to Mars, such as the rover ExoMars will descend 2 meters into the surface in search of life.

We would like to see all the pictures taken showing the Moon, Mars and the International Space Station in one go – even better if you manage to get all three during the lunar eclipse. Upload your images to ESA's social networks, by sending a Facebook message to ESA, with the hashtag #youresa on Instagram, or in response to the tweet pinned to @esaspaceflight. Provide as much information on how you took the picture as possible. The top three entries will be eligible to win exclusive prizes.

Alexander took this picture with a 210mm lens when he was not working on dozens of European experiments conducted on the International Space Station. Flying at 28,800 km / h takes only 90 minutes to circle the Earth, which means that astronauts on board spend the night every 45 minutes: coupled with an always clear sky, the astronaut has more chances to take a perfect picture.

Learn more:
Image: A view closer to the moon