The Lunar Eclipse, Seen From the International Space Station

By Nancy Atkinson May 19, 2022
The Lunar Eclipse, Seen From the International Space Station

If you were able to witness the lunar eclipse on May 15-16, 2022, the view of the dark red Moon was stunning. But what would such an eclipse look like from space?

Wonder no longer. ESA/Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti captured a series of photos of the lunar eclipse from her unique vantage point aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

https://twitter.com/AstroSamantha/status/1526177721285582848

ESA posted the photos on Flickr, and Cristoforetti tweeted the images out after the eclipse.

An image of a lunar eclipse as seen from the International Space Station. Credit: ESA-S.Cristoforetti

“A partially eclipsed Moon playing hide-and-seek with our solar panel,” she wrote.

A partially eclipsed Moon playing hide and seek with the solar panel of the International Space Station. Credit: ESA-S.Cristoforetti

Veteran astronaut Cristoforetti has now served on ISS twice. In 2014-2015 she set a record for the longest space mission by a female astronaut, at 200 days, which has since been ‘eclipsed,’ twice. In 2017, NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson was on the ISS for 289 days, and then NASA’s Christina Koch (USA) spent 328 days on the space station in 2019-2022.

A NASA astronaut took this image of the Moon near the beginning of the eclipse. You can see more images of the Moon taken by ISS astronauts at this Flickr page.

The Moon, with Earth's shadow draping across it during a lunar eclipse, is pictured from the International Space Station. Credit: NASA

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