This stunning photo was taken by astronaut Ron Garan during a spacewalk on July 12, 2011. The wide-angle photo shows the International Space Station (ISS) with Space Shuttle Atlantis docked on the right and a Russian Soyuz docked on the far left. The large white and brown panels are solar panels used to power the ISS. The object in the foreground is the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS). The AMS is a state-of-the-art particle physics detector designed to use the unique environment of space to advance knowledge of the universe and lead to the understanding of the universe’s origin by searching for antimatter and dark matter, and measuring cosmic rays.
In the background, the Earth’s curve is exaggerated by the wide-angle lens. Expand the image and look closely at the thin blue band that is our atmosphere.
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