CoolPix: ISS Self Portrait... Sittin' On Top Of The World!

(click pic for hi-res) Amazing view! ISS self portrait - Tracy Caldwell Dyson (photo: wiki)

 No, AirPigz is not going 'all space, all the time', but with the fabulous success story of the SpaceX Falcon 9/Dragon mission recently completed, I've been spending a little more time paying attention to off-Earth hardware like the International Space Station. That's how I stumbled on to this amazing self-portrait taken back in 2010 by astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson while on Expedition 24 to the ISS. This view looks like something out of 2001 A Space Odyssey... imagine being in orbit above the Earth, in a short sleeve shirt leaning against a huge window with a massive view of the Earth below. Wow!

 The big windows are the part of the Cupola (ISS module) which has been in the works for many years but didn't actually get shipped and fitted to the ISS until February 2010. Tracy's picture was taken on September 11, 2010, not all that long after the Cupola has become a part of the ISS. The large windows in the Cupola (six trapezoid shaped and the really large circular, 31 inch diameter one) give the astronauts by far their best opportunity for external observation. The windows also all have shutters that are able to be closed to protect against object impact. You can see the shutters open in the CoolPix hi-res Cupola pic below, and in the closed position in the far bottom photo.

 Seeing that big round window and knowing you have such an incredible view of earth from it has made me wish, for the first time ever, that I could go spend some time at the ISS. What an adventure that would be!

(click pic for hi-res)  External view of the Cupola module on the ISS   (photo: wiki)

Wider view showing the Cupola module attached to the Tranquility (Node 3) module