Space Topics: Earth
The Year in Pictures: 2009
Full Power
Space Station and Earth
Credit: NASA
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As the space shuttle Discovery drifted away from its
STS-119 destination at the International Space Station, astronauts photographed
their handiwork against the thin blue line of Earth's backlit atmosphere.
They had just completed installing the fourth and final set of solar panels,
finally providing enough power to the station to support its full complement
of resident astronauts. For years, the station has been a bright naked-eye
object when it passes overhead just before dawn or just after dusk, but its
reflecting area is now so large that it's visible to experienced observers
even in the daytime.
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