Astrophotographer captures a beautiful photo of the ISS as it passes over the moon

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A once in a blue moon shot! Astrophotographer captures beautiful photos of the International Space Station as it moves across the lunar surface

  • The orbiting laboratory was reoriented for a spacewalk
  • An astrophotographer captured the ISS image in Sacramento, California
  • The image shows the ISS as it travels through the moon early Monday morning

By Ryan Morrison for Mailonline

Published: Updated:

A stunning image of the International Space Station against a moon background was captured as the astronauts prepared for a spacewalk.

The orbiting science lab had been reoriented so that astronauts Kate Rubins and Victor Glover could step outside and prepare solar panels for future upgrades.

Astrophotographer Andrew McCarthy captured the image of the station orbiting 400 km above Earth while it was along a road in Sacramento, California.

This rare recording of the reoriented view of the station, taken at around 10:44 GMT on Monday, “instantly became one of my favorite recordings,” McCarthy explains.

The International Space Station is captured on camera in a super rare photo - as the spacecraft lit up for a split second as it passed in front of the moon

The International Space Station is captured on camera in a super rare photo – illuminating the spacecraft for a split second as it passed in front of the moon

NASA astronaut Kate Rubins is pictured during a spacewalk to install solar panel modification kits on the space station on Sunday, Feb. 28

NASA astronaut Kate Rubins is pictured during a spacewalk to install solar panel modification kits on the space station on Sunday, Feb. 28

What made this image remarkable was the orientation of the ISS at the time it was taken and McCarthy’s “ to the second ” precision capturing the orbit lab as it skimmed over Copernicus crater on the moon – before disappearing.

This lunar impact crater is visible with binoculars just northwest of the center of the Moon’s Earth-facing hemisphere.

The solar panels, which usually lie flat on either side of the station, were seen from different angles as a result of the spacewalk, adding to the uniqueness of the photo.

In normal orientation, the eight solar panels are fully stretched to collect energy from the sun, but during a spacewalk they are sometimes realigned

In normal orientation, the eight solar panels are fully stretched to collect energy from the sun, but during a spacewalk they are sometimes realigned

McCarthy said the image instantly became a favorite of the many photos he takes of the night sky every day.

“This is because of the novelty of capturing a spacecraft from Earth, but mainly because I could clearly see the reconfiguration of the solar panel because of a mission that was live-streamed from NASA,” he explained.

This is one of the few times when you can easily observe changes in structure as a result of a mission from Earth.

“This image shows how the solar panel has been reoriented so that the ISS crew can install new hardware.”

British astronaut Tim Peake responded to the post about the image on Twitter, saying, “Congratulations on taking such a fantastic photo of my old house!”

The photo was taken along a road in Sacramento, California, chosen because it was a clear sky where McCarthy could capture the ISS following a path through the moon.

“But I didn’t expect to get this cool, rare shot of a mission overhead.

McCarthy said the image instantly became a favorite of the many photos he takes of the night sky every day

McCarthy said the image instantly became a favorite of the many photos he takes of the night sky every day

And to top it all off, the photo shows the ISS grazing my favorite lunar crater, Copernicus. What a world. ‘

He added: ‘At 2:44 am this morning, I positioned myself so that the ISS would pass between the moon and me to get this picture. What I didn’t expect was that the ISS looked so much different than usual. ‘

For the spacewalk, which led to the new look ISS, Glover and Rubins continued to work on upgrades to the power systems, which slowly deteriorate over time.

British astronaut Tim Peake responded to the post about the image on Twitter to describe it as a 'fantastic photo of my old house'

British astronaut Tim Peake responded to the post about the image on Twitter to describe it as a ‘fantastic photo of my old house’

Their work lasted seven hours and four minutes on Sunday, February 28, between 11:12 AM and 6:16 PM GMT – all streamed live by NASA.

The ISS has eight solar panel wings, each designed to produce a total of 250 kW of power and the oldest was launched in 2000, the most recent in 2009 – all by the now-defunct space shuttles.

They function well but demeaning because they are designed to last for 15 years – and the oldest are now 21 years old. New solar panels will be placed in front of the old ones later this year and launched on a SpaceX vehicle in June.

The next spacewalk will see Rubins teaming up with Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Soichi Noguchi to complete more solar panel upgrades.

EXPLAINED: THE $ 100 BILLION INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION SITS 250 MILES ABOVE THE EARTH

The International Space Station (ISS) is a $ 100 billion (£ 80 billion) science and engineering laboratory orbiting the Earth.

Since November 2000, it has been permanently manned by changing crews of astronauts and cosmonauts.

Research on board the ISS often requires one or more of the unusual conditions present in low Earth orbit, such as low gravity or oxygen.

ISS studies have explored human research, aerospace medicine, life sciences, natural sciences, astronomy and meteorology.

The US space agency Nasa spends about $ 3 billion (£ 2.4 billion) per year on the space station program, a level of funding endorsed by the Trump administration and Congress.

A US House of Representatives committee overseeing NASA has begun to explore whether the program should be extended beyond 2024.

Alternatively, the money could be used to accelerate planned human space initiatives to the Moon and Mars.

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