Photo: The Space Station Turns on its Afterburners...Or Not?

By Nancy Atkinson - March 08, 2012 04:51 PM UTC | Space Exploration

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Astronaut Don Pettit posted this beautiful image on his

Google+ page

showing a view from the space station reminiscent of science-fiction. Of course, that's the constellation Orion off in the distance, but there's a bit of a debate going on at Pettit's post whether the diffusion of light seen emanating from the ISS is just light from inside the space station windows (it appears to be the Cupola) spreading out into total darkness, or if the effect is actually from a reboost of the ISS for a Debris Avoidance Maneuver that was performed around the time this image was taken.

The only clue Pettit provided is the title he gave the image, "Orion in the headlights," which would point to the effect coming from the light shining from the Cupola windows. But the The DAM took place at 10.12 GMT (5:12 a.m. EST) on February 29, 2012 and as commenter

Peter Caltner

points out, "the scenic lighting effect ends exactly in [the series of images that Pettit took] at the end of the 76 seconds of the burn duration."

The original can be found here on the NASA Gateway to Astronaut Photography website, and here's another image in the sequence.

OK, all you imaging experts out there: until Pettit gives us the real scoop, what are your thoughts?

Thanks to Elyse David for the heads up!

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com