Unique “portrait” of shuttle and International Space Station released

By | Published: June 7, 2011 | Last updated on May 18, 2023
Newly-released portraits show the International Space Station together
with the space shuttle, the vehicle that helped build the complex during
the last decade. The pictures are the first taken of a shuttle docked
to the station from the perspective of a Russian Soyuz spacecraft.

On
May 23, the Soyuz was carrying Russian cosmonaut Dmitry Kondratyev,
NASA astronaut Cady Coleman and European Space Agency astronaut Paolo
Nespoli back to Earth. Once their vehicle was about 600 feet from the
station, Mission Control Moscow, outside the Russian capital, commanded
the orbiting laboratory to rotate 130 degrees. This move allowed Nespoli
to capture digital photographs and high-definition video of shuttle Endeavour docked to the station.

The
Soyuz landed in Kazakhstan and was taken to Moscow for routine
post-landing analysis. NASA and the Russian space agency, Roscosmos,
then processed the imagery as part of the standard disposition of
spacecraft cargo.

Additional images and high definition video
are being processed and will be posted on NASA’s website. To view the
still images, click here.

SHUTTLEISS
This image of the International Space Station and the docked space shuttle Endeavour, flying at an altitude of approximately 220 miles, was taken by Expedition 27 crew member Paolo Nespoli from the Soyuz TMA-20 following its undocking on May 23, 2011 (USA time). It is the first-ever image of a space shuttle docked to the International Space Station.
NASA
Newly-released portraits show the International Space Station together
with the space shuttle, the vehicle that helped build the complex during
the last decade. The pictures are the first taken of a shuttle docked
to the station from the perspective of a Russian Soyuz spacecraft.

On
May 23, the Soyuz was carrying Russian cosmonaut Dmitry Kondratyev,
NASA astronaut Cady Coleman and European Space Agency astronaut Paolo
Nespoli back to Earth. Once their vehicle was about 600 feet from the
station, Mission Control Moscow, outside the Russian capital, commanded
the orbiting laboratory to rotate 130 degrees. This move allowed Nespoli
to capture digital photographs and high-definition video of shuttle Endeavour docked to the station.

The
Soyuz landed in Kazakhstan and was taken to Moscow for routine
post-landing analysis. NASA and the Russian space agency, Roscosmos,
then processed the imagery as part of the standard disposition of
spacecraft cargo.

Additional images and high definition video
are being processed and will be posted on NASA’s website. To view the
still images, click here.

Up Next