14 DAY TRIAL // Over the weekend, on Sunday, the International Space Station was observed crossing the face of the Sun. The transit of the orbital complex was caught on film, and this Tuesday, US space agency NASA released a composite image documenting the event.
The image, available in the gallery below, comprises a total of five frames. When photographed transiting the Sun on Sunday, the International Space Station was moving at a speed of about 5 miles per second (roughly 8 kilometers per second).
The frames were taken from the Shenandoah National Park in Front Royal, Virginia, NASA scientists go on to detail. The International Space Station was observed transiting the Sun at an altitude of about 250 miles (about 400 kilometers) above Earth.
Last Wednesday, three astronauts were launched to the orbital complex from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The space explorers traveled to their new home aboard a Soyuz spacecraft and reached their destination on Friday.
The International Space Station is now home to a crew of nine astronauts. They are Scott Kelly and Kjell Lindgren of NASA, Gennady Padalka, Mikhail Kornienko, Oleg Kononenko and Sergey Volkov of Roscosmos, Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui, ESA's Andreas Mogensen and Aidyn Aimbetov of Kazakhstan.
In just a few days, on September 11, Gennady Padalka, Andreas Mogensen and Aidyn Aimbetov are scheduled to return to Earth. Then, in December, Kjell Lindgren, Oleg Kononenko and Kimiya Yui will too leave the orbital complex.
As for Sergey Volkov, Scott Kelly and Mikhail Kornienko, they are to remain aboard the International Space Station for a while longer. Thus, they aren't expected back until next year's March.
