Dazzling Photos of the International Space Station Crossing the Moon!

By ken-kremer - January 6, 2012 at 4:33 AM UTC | Space Exploration
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Has the International Space Station (ISS) secretly joined

NASA's

newly arrived

GRAIL lunar twins

orbiting the Moon?

No - but you might think so gazing at these dazzling new images of the Moon and the ISS snapped by a NASA photographer yesterday (Jan. 4) operating from the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

Check out this remarkable series of NASA photos above and below showing the ISS and her crew of six humans crossing the face of Earth's Moon above the skies over Houston, Texas.

And see my shot below of the Moon near Jupiter - in conjunction- taken just after the two GRAIL spacecraft achieved lunar orbit on New Year's weekend.

In the photo above, the ISS is visible at the upper left during the early evening of Jan. 4, and almost looks like it's in orbit around the Moon. In fact the ISS is still circling about 248 miles (391 kilometers) above Earth with the multinational Expedition 30 crew of astronauts and cosmonauts hailing from the US, Russia and Holland.

[caption id="attachment_92428" align="alignleft" width="385" caption="Space Station Crossing Face of Moon This composite of images of the International Space Station flying over the Houston area show the progress of the station as it crossed the face of the moon in the early evening of Jan. 4, 2012 over NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas. Credit: NASA click to enlarge"]

[/caption] The amazing photo here is a composite image showing the ISS transiting the Moon's near side above Houston in the evening hours of Jan 4.

The ISS is the brightest object in the night sky and easily visible to the naked eye if it's in sight.

With a pair of binoculars, it's even possible to see some of the stations structure like the solar panels, truss segments and modules.

Check this

NASA Website

for ISS viewing in your area.

How many of you have witnessed a sighting of the ISS?

It's a very cool experience !

NASA says that some especially good and long views of the ISS lasting up to 6 minutes may be possible in the central time zone on Friday, Jan 6 - depending on the weather and

your location

.

And don't forget to check out the spectacular photos of Comet Lovejoy recently shot by Expedition 30 Commander Dan Burbank aboard the

ISS

  • through the Darth Vader like Cupola dome, and collected

here

[caption id="attachment_92431" align="aligncenter" width="464" caption="Moon and International Space Station (at lower right) on Jan 4, 2012 from NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas. Credit: NASA click to emlarge"]

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[caption id="attachment_92433" align="aligncenter" width="397" caption="Moon, Jupiter and 2 GRAILs on Jan. 2, 2012 Taken near Princeton, NJ after both GRAIL spacecraft achieved lunar orbit after LOI - Lunar Orbit Insertion- burns on New Year's weekend 2012. Credit: Ken Kremer "]

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