An American astronaut has snapped a stunning shot of Melbourne, Australia, while aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
Don Pettit took this captivating image on October 9, 2024, from a vantage point approximately 270 miles above the city, as the ISS orbits Earth at altitudes between 370-460 kilometers (230-285 miles).
As of June 2023, Melbourne is Australia’s second-largest city, with a population of 5,207,145, just shy of Sydney’s 5,450,496. Interestingly, Melbourne has also seen the most significant population growth over the last year, adding 167,500 new residents.
Pettit, a seasoned astronaut selected by NASA in April 1996, has spent over 370 days in space and logged more than 13 hours on spacewalks. He arrived at the ISS on September 11, 2024, alongside cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner. He’ll be spending about six months there, focusing on scientific research and spacecraft maintenance.
Recently, Pettit has been sharing other remarkable images from space on his X account, including views of Kathmandu, Nepal, and the Amazon basin illuminated at night.
The ISS has been continuously orbiting Earth for 25 years, welcoming over 270 astronauts from around the globe, according to NASA. Astronauts often document Earth’s beauty with handheld digital cameras, capturing iconic sights like the lights of northwest France and eruptions from Mt. Etna in Sicily.
The station, a collaborative project that began in the late 1980s, includes contributions from the U.S., Canada, Japan, and Europe, and welcomed Russia in 1993. It is the largest human-made structure in orbit, measuring 109 x 51 meters.
Its unique orbit allows it to cover latitudes from 52 degrees north to 52 degrees south, enabling astronauts to photograph locations with varying light conditions. This capability is crucial for capturing fleeting events, such as natural disasters, which can assist response teams in their efforts.