Beneath a Desert Moon: Astronaut Captures Breathtaking Image From Space Station

An oblique-angle photo taken from above the Middle East captures the Moon peeking over Earth’s atmospheric limb.

An astronaut aboard the International Space StationThe International Space Station (ISS) is a large spacecraft in orbit around the Earth that serves as a research laboratory and spaceport for international collaboration in space exploration. It was launched in 1998 and has been continuously occupied by rotating crews of astronauts and cosmonauts from around the world since 2000. The ISS is a joint project of five space agencies: NASA (USA), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA (Japan), ESA (Europe), and CSA (Canada). It orbits the Earth at an altitude of approximately 400 kilometers (250 miles), and provides a unique platform for scientific research, technological development, and human space exploration.” data-gt-translate-attributes=”[{“attribute”:”data-cmtooltip”, “format”:”html”}]”>International Space Station captured this photo of the Earth and Moon while orbiting over Iraq (not pictured). Taken at an oblique angle from an altitude of 252 miles (406 kilometers), the photo has a perspective that highlights Earth’s atmospheric limb, or the edge of the atmosphere.

The blue-toned haze that fades into the darkness of space is the mesosphere, which reaches an altitude of about 50 miles (80 kilometers). Above the mesosphere is the thermosphere. Although this layer is part of Earth’s atmosphere, it is commonly considered part of outer space.

In the center of the image, Earth’s moon peeks over the horizon. The Moon is about 251,000 miles (405,500 kilometers) away from Earth at its furthest point, or apogee. In this image, the Moon is in the waning gibbous phase, which occurs between the full-moon and half-moon phases.

Below the wispy clouds in the middle of the view is Lake Assad, a Euphrates River reservoir in northern Syria. Lake Assad is Syria’s largest lake and a primary source of the region’s drinking and irrigation water. The Tabqa Dam, which created the lake, is the largest hydroelectric dam in the country.

Astronaut photograph ISS069-E-18445 was acquired on June 8, 2023, with a Nikon D5 digital camera using a focal length of 25 millimeters. It is provided by the ISS Crew Earth Observations Facility and the Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, Johnson Space Center. The image was taken by a member of the Expedition 69 crew. The image has been cropped and enhanced to improve contrast, and lens artifacts have been removed. The International Space Station Program supports the laboratory as part of the ISS National Lab to help astronauts take pictures of Earth that will be of the greatest value to scientists and the public, and to make those images freely available on the Internet. Caption by Minna Adel Rubio, GeoControl Systems, JETS Contract at NASAEstablished in 1958, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is an independent agency of the United States Federal Government that succeeded the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). It is responsible for the civilian space program, as well as aeronautics and aerospace research. Its vision is "To discover and expand knowledge for the benefit of humanity." Its core values are "safety, integrity, teamwork, excellence, and inclusion." NASA conducts research, develops technology and launches missions to explore and study Earth, the solar system, and the universe beyond. It also works to advance the state of knowledge in a wide range of scientific fields, including Earth and space science, planetary science, astrophysics, and heliophysics, and it collaborates with private companies and international partners to achieve its goals.” data-gt-translate-attributes=”[{“attribute”:”data-cmtooltip”, “format”:”html”}]”>NASA-JSC.