A German astronaut has shared a breathtaking photo he took of the moon from the International Space Station (ISS).
Alexander Gerst, from the European Space Agency, posted the image on Twitter showing Earth’s natural satellite from a unique viewpoint.
By orbiting the Earth almost 16 times per day, the #ISS crew travel the distance to the Moon and back – every day. #Horizons pic.twitter.com/8EftTR3COd
— Alexander Gerst (@Astro_Alex) July 6, 2018
Dr Gerst, a geophysicist who was selected in 2009 to take part in space training and is currently on his second space mission, wrote: “By orbiting the Earth almost 16 times per day, the #ISS crew travel the distance to the Moon and back – every day.”
Astronauts aboard the ISS – a science laboratory orbiting 250 miles above Earth every 90 minutes – are able to see multiple moonsets in a single day as it travels at a brisk speed of 17,100 miles per hour.
Back in May, Nasa astronaut Drew Feustel shared a video of a chance viewing of a moonset.
Beautiful Full “Moon-set” captured by chance on @Space_Station Sunday evening. pic.twitter.com/yAIAlWHwqQ
— A.J. (Drew) Feustel (@Astro_Feustel) May 1, 2018
The Moon is approximately 238,900 miles away from Earth.