Skip to main content

The moon looks majestic in ISS astronaut’s stunning photo

The moon as seen from the space station.
Matthew Dominick/NASA

NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick has shared a stunning image that he took recently aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

The photograph shows a large-looking moon dominating the scene, which also includes clouds a couple of hundred miles below.

Recommended Videos

“Went to the cupola to shoot Tropical Storm Hone near Hawaii but right after we passed by the storm the moon started to set,” Dominick, who’s been aboard the ISS since March, said in a comment accompanying the post.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

The moon setting over the Pacific.

Went to the cupola to shoot Tropical Storm Hone near Hawaii but right after we passed by the storm the moon started to set.

400mm, ISO 500, 1/20000s shutter speed, f2.8, cropped, denoised. pic.twitter.com/YtboVnRNpF

— Matthew Dominick (@dominickmatthew) August 24, 2024

Besides working on various science projects during his time aboard the orbital laboratory, Dominick has also earned a reputation as a photographer of some considerable talent.

The astronaut has been sharing his photographic work with his 17,000 followers on X (formerly Twitter), including an array of images showing not only Earth and beyond, but also the interior of the space station. He also likes to try different camera settings to experiment with particular photographic techniques such as multiple exposures.

What’s made Dominick’s efforts particularly engaging is his willingness to share the tricks of his trade, with most of his photo-based posts including details on how he captured each shot.

Astronauts photographing Earth from aboard the International Space Station often shoot out of the facility’s seven-window Cupola module, which offers panoramic views of our planet and space. Indeed, it was from the Cupola that Dominick captured his extraordinary moon image.

Another astronaut who spent a good deal of time in the Cupola to capture dazzling shots of Earth was Thomas Pesquet. The Frenchman revealed just how much planning was required to get the images, with his efforts clearly paying off.

Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
‘Unexpected odor’ reported at the International Space Station
The International Space Station.

Operators of the International Space Station (ISS) were recently alerted to what was described as an “unexpected odor” emanating the Russian Progress cargo spacecraft that docked with the orbital outpost on Saturday.

After launching from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the Progress spacecraft brought with it about 2.5 tons of supplies and other cargo for the seven-person crew aboard the orbital outpost. The spacecraft’s arrival at the station’s Poisk module appeared to go smoothly, but when Russian cosmonauts Ivan Vagner and Aleksandr Gorbunov opened the spacecraft’s hatch, they noticed an odor along with drops of an unidentified liquid.

Read more
Space station crew had an amazing stroke of luck during Starship launch
The sixth Starship mission captured from the ISS.

The sixth Starship mission captured from the ISS. NASA / Don Pettit

NASA astronaut and current space station inhabitant Don Pettit seems to have the luck of the stars. During SpaceX’s sixth test flight of its massive Starship rocket from Boca Chica, Texas, on Tuesday, the International Space Station (ISS) just happened to be passing directly above -- some 250 miles above, to be precise -- giving keen photographer Pettit the perfect opportunity to capture the Starship’s launch.

Read more
The space station just had to pull a maneuver to avoid space debris
The International Space Station.

The International Space Station (ISS) was repositioned on Tuesday, November 19, to move it well out of the way of approaching space debris, NASA reported.

Station operators fired the thrusters on the docked Progress 89 spacecraft for just over five minutes to raise the orbit of the ISS in a maneuver that provided an extra margin of distance from a piece of orbital debris, which came from a defunct defense meteorological satellite that broke up in 2015.

Read more