Image 8-13
Space Station

Set against the background of a cloud covered Earth, the International Space Station (ISS) is featured in this image photographed by an STS-129 crew member on space shuttle Atlantis soon after the station and shuttle began their post-undocking relative separation. Undocking of the two spacecraft occurred at 3:53 a.m. (CST) on November 25, 2009. The large double-sided solar panels provide electrical power for the space station. The completed station is 239 feet (72.8 meters) long and orbits the Earth every 92.69 minutes. The first module was launched on November 20, 1998.