This panorama of the International Space Station is a wider view of what ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano was capturing on camera during the first of a series of historic spacewalks that took place in November 2019.

Author, journalist and researcher Lee Brandon-Cremer created this photo by stitching together three images taken by Luca as he made his way to the worksite during the first Extravehicular Activity or EVA to service the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS), the Station's dark matter detector.

"For every spacewalk there are thousands of images taken. Sometimes a few images jump out at me," he explains. "One day I realised I could stitch these images together to expand the scene and show what the astronaut sees in a broader sense."

To create this view, Lee first went looking for images with common points. This proved tricky: of the 1000 or so images he scanned, he found three that could be worked into two expanded photos of the Space Station.

He then joined and lightly edited the images to create a smooth photograph, a technique referred to as "stitching".

In the final image you can see the white panel radiators that keep the Space Station cool. The spacecraft on the left is a Soyuz. On the right is the Kibo module, with Japanese flag visible. The Space Station is flying to the right in this picture.

Nowadays we are spoiled for space imagery. From satellites circling the Earth and spacecraft taking selfies to astronaut snaps from the International Space Station, there is no shortage of photographs at which to marvel - and they are easy to access.

Aside from the critical role these images play in aiding scientific studies of Earth, the Solar System and outer space, they are important tools for science communication and public engagement.

One advantage of space imagery made public is how it engages citizen scientists and students all over the world. Take two projects as examples:

Cities at Night asks residents to identify major cities at night as seen by astronauts from the Space Station to help map out and combat light pollution. The Climate Detectives school project tasks students with investigating a local climate problem and proposing a solution by studying Earth observation satellite imagery.

For others like Lee, the images are a source of inspiration and creativity.

"It's truly thrilling for me to recreate these broader views and it makes me wonder how many more unique views like this one captured by Luca are hiding in space agency archives," Lee adds.

Related Links
International Space Station at ESA
Space Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The Space Media Network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceMediaNetwork Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceMediaNetwork Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Amyloid formation in the International Space Station
Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Jun 17, 2020
Amyloids, abnormal fibrillar aggregates of proteins, are associated with various disorders such as Alzheimer's disease. Therefore, an in-depth understanding of the mechanisms of amyloid formation is critical for developing clinical strategies and drugs against these diseases. However, accumulating evidence suggests that amyloid formation processes and the consequent morphology of fibrils can be affected by various environmental factors. This is an obstacle for the integrative understanding of the ... read more