Arena of human passions. Beam of progress and gray dusk of everyday life. Jerusalem and Mecca of all religions. Crusades, rivers of blood. Kings, courtiers, slaves. Illusion of grandeur and power. Villainy, war and love. Saints, sinners and fates. Human feelings, the sound of coins. The cycle of matter in nature. Hermit and superstar. creators, ideological fighters- here everyone lived his term to disappear forever. Wealth, faith and the pursuit of unattainable beauty. The flight of hopes, the decline of impotence. Dream castle in the air. And an endless series of news: birth, life - a game with death, a kaleidoscope of all coincidences, forward and upward! cycle is complete. It's time to leave. And ahead, the light of other births dawns. Civilizations and ideas.

The price of all this nonsense is one grain of sand in the void.

... On February 14, 1990, the cameras of the Voyager 1 probe received the last order - to turn around and take a farewell photograph of the Earth, before the automatic interplanetary station forever disappears into the depths of space.

Of course, there was no scientific benefit in this: by that time, Voyager was already far beyond the orbits of Neptune and Pluto, 6 billion km from the Sun. A world of eternal twilight that never warms the sun's rays. The illumination of those places is 900 times less than the illumination in the Earth's orbit, and the luminary itself looks like a tiny shiny dot from there, barely distinguishable against the background of others. bright stars. And yet, scientists hoped to see the image of the Earth in the picture ... What does the blue planet look like from a distance of 6 billion kilometers?

Curiosity overcame common sense, and several grams of the precious hydrazine flew out through the nozzles of the vernier engines. The "eye" of the orientation system sensor flashed - Voyager turned around its axis and took the desired position in space. TV camera drives came to life and creaked, shaking off a layer of cosmic dust (the probe's television equipment had been inactive for 10 years since parting with Saturn in 1980). Voyager turned its gaze in the indicated direction, trying to catch the Sun's neighborhood in the lens - somewhere there must be a tiny pale blue dot rushing in space. But will it be possible to see anything from such a distance?

The survey was made using a narrow-angle camera (0.4°) with a focal length of 500 mm, at an angle of 32° above the ecliptic plane (the plane of rotation of the Earth around the Sun). The distance to the Earth at that moment was ≈ 6,054,558,000 kilometers.

After 5.5 hours, a picture was taken from the probe, which at first did not arouse much enthusiasm among specialists. On the technical side, a photo from the outskirts solar system looked like a defective film - a gray nondescript background with alternating light stripes caused by scattering sunlight in camera optics (due to the huge distance, the apparent angle between the Earth and the Sun was less than 2°). On the right side of the photo, a barely distinguishable “speck of dust” was noticeable, more like an image defect. There was no doubt - the probe transmitted an image of the Earth.

However, following the disappointment came a true understanding of the deep philosophical sense this photo.

Looking at photographs of the Earth from near-Earth orbit, we get the impression that the Earth is a large rotating ball, covered by 71% water. Clusters of clouds, giant funnels of cyclones, continents and city lights. A majestic spectacle. Alas, from a distance of 6 billion kilometers, everything looked different.

Everyone you've ever loved, everyone you've ever known, everyone you've ever heard of, everyone who's ever lived has lived their lives here. Our many pleasures and sufferings, our thousands of self-confident religions, ideologies and economic doctrines, every hunter and gatherer, every hero and coward, every builder and destroyer of civilizations, every king and peasant, every politician and "superstar", every saint and sinner of our species have lived here - on a mote suspended in a sunbeam.

- astronomer and astrophysicist Carl Sagan, opening speech on May 11, 1996

It's hard to imagine, but our entire vast, diverse world, with its pressing issues, "universal" catastrophes and upheavals fit on 0.12 pixels of the Voyager 1 camera.

The figure "0.12 pixels" gives a lot of reasons for jokes and doubts about the authenticity of the photo - did NASA specialists, like British scientists (who, as you know, divided 1 bit), manage to divide the indivisible? Everything turned out to be much simpler - at such a distance, the scale of the Earth was really only 0.12 camera pixels - it would be impossible to consider any details on the surface of the planet. But due to the scattering of sunlight, the area where our planet is located looked like a tiny whitish speck a few pixels in area in the picture.

The fantastic picture was included in the title Pale Blue Dot (“Pale Blue Dot”) - a harsh reminder of who we really are, what all our ambitions and self-confident slogans “Man is the crown of creation” are worth. We are nobody to the universe. And don't call us. Our only home is a tiny dot, already indistinguishable at distances over 40 astronomical units (1 AU ≈ 149.6 million km, which is equal to the average distance from the Earth to the Sun). For comparison, the distance to the nearest star, the red dwarf Proxima Centauri, is 270,000 AU. e.

Our posturing, our imagined importance, our delusion of our privileged status in the universe, they all succumb to this point of pale light. Our planet is just a single speck of dust in the surrounding cosmic darkness. In this vast void, there is no hint that someone will come to our aid in order to save us from our own ignorance.

Perhaps there is no better demonstration of stupid human arrogance than this distant picture of our tiny world. It seems to me that it emphasizes our responsibility, our duty to be kinder to each other, to cherish and cherish the pale blue dot - our only home.

— K. Sagan, speech continued

Another cool photo from the same series - solar eclipse in the orbit of Saturn. The image was transmitted by the Cassini automatic station, which has been "cutting circles" around the giant planet for the ninth year. A tiny dot is barely visible to the left of the outer ring. Land!

Family portrait

After sending a farewell picture of the Earth as a keepsake, Voyager also transmitted another curious image along the way - a mosaic of 60 individual images. various areas solar system. Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune “lit up” on some of them (Mercury and Mars could not be seen - the first turned out to be too close to the Sun, the second turned out to be too small). Together with the "pale blue dot" these images formed a fantastic collage Family Portrait ("Family portrait") - for the first time mankind managed to look at the solar system from the side, outside the plane of the ecliptic!

The presented photographs of the planets are made through various filters - to obtain the best image of each object. The Sun was photographed with a darkening filter and a fast shutter speed - even at such a gigantic distance, its light is strong enough to damage telescopic optics.

Saying goodbye to the distant Earth, Voyager's television cameras were completely deactivated - the probe went forever into interstellar space - where eternal darkness reigns. Voyager will no longer have to photograph anything - the remaining energy resource is now spent only on communication with the Earth and ensuring the functioning of plasma and charged particle detectors. The cells of the onboard computer, which were previously responsible for the operation of the cameras, were overwritten with new programs aimed at studying the interstellar medium.

36 years in space

... 23 years after the events described above, Voyager 1 is still floating in the void, only occasionally "tossing and turning" from side to side - the orientation system engines periodically fend off the rotation of the device around its axis (0.2 arcmin on average). / sec), directing a parabolic antenna towards the already hidden Earth, the distance to which has increased from six (as of 1990, when the "Family Portrait" was made) to 18.77 billion kilometers (autumn 2013).

125 astronomical units, which is equivalent to 0.002 light years. At the same time, the probe continues to move away from the Sun at a speed of 17 km / s - Voyager 1 is the fastest of all objects ever created by human hands.

Before launch, 1977

According to the calculations of the creators of Voyager, the energy of its three radioisotope thermoelectric generators will last at least until 2020 - the power of plutonium RTGs is reduced by 0.78% annually, and, to date, the probe receives only 60% of the initial power (260 W against 420 W at start). The lack of energy is compensated by an energy saving plan that provides for shift work and shutting down a number of non-essential systems.

The supply of hydrazine for the engines of the attitude control system should also be enough for another 10 years (several tens of kilograms of H2N-NH2 are still splashing in the probe tanks, out of 120 kg of the initial stock at the start). The only difficulty is that, due to the huge distance, it is becoming more and more difficult for the probe to find the dim Sun in the sky every day - there is a danger that the sensors may lose it among other bright stars. Losing orientation, the probe will lose the ability to communicate with the Earth.

Communication... it's hard to believe, but the power of the main Voyager transmitter is only 23 watts!
To pick up the probe signals from a distance of 18.77 billion km - the same as driving a car at a speed of 100 km / h for 21,000 years, without breaks and stops, then look around - and try to see the light bulb from the refrigerator burning in the beginning of the path.

70m antenna of the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex

However, the problem was successfully solved by repeatedly upgrading the entire ground receiving complex. As for all the seeming improbability of communication at such great distances, it is no more difficult than "hearing" the radiation of a distant galaxy with a radio telescope.

Voyager's radio signals reach Earth after 17 hours. The power of the received signal is quadrillionths of a watt, but this is much higher than the sensitivity threshold of 34 and 70-meter "dishes" of deep space communications. Regular communication is maintained with the probe, the telemetry data transfer rate can reach 160 bps.

Voyager Extended Mission. At the edge of the interstellar medium

On September 12, 2013, NASA announced once again that Voyager 1 had left the solar system and entered interstellar space. According to experts, this time everything is without errors - the probe has reached an area in which there is no "solar wind" (the flow of charged particles from the Sun), but the intensity of cosmic radiation has sharply increased. And it happened on August 25, 2012.

The reason for the uncertainty of scientists and the appearance of numerous false reports is the lack of operational detectors of plasma, charged particles and cosmic rays on board the Voyager - the entire set of instruments of the probe failed many years ago. The current conclusions of scientists about the properties environment are based only on circumstantial evidence obtained by analyzing the incoming Voyager radio signals - as recent measurements have shown, solar flares no longer affect the antenna devices of the probe. Now the signals of the probe are distorted by a new, never before recorded sound - the plasma of the interstellar medium.

In general, this whole story with the “Pale Blue Dot”, “Family Portrait” and the study of the properties of the interstellar medium might not have happened - it was originally planned that communication with the Voyager 1 probe would stop in December 1980, as soon as it left the vicinity of Saturn, - the last of the planets he explored. From that moment on, the probe remained out of work - let it fly wherever it wants, no scientific benefit from its flight is no longer expected.

The opinion of NASA specialists changed after they got acquainted with the publication of Soviet scientists V. Baranov, K. Krasnobaev and A. Kulikovsky. Soviet astrophysicists calculated the boundary of the heliosphere, the so-called. the heliopause is the region in which the solar wind completely subsides. Then the interstellar medium begins. According to theoretical calculation at a distance of 12 billion km from the Sun, a densification should have occurred, the so-called. "shock wave" - ​​the region in which the solar wind collides with interstellar plasma.

Interested in the problem, NASA extended the mission of both Voyager probes until the deadline - as long as communication with space reconnaissance was possible. As it turned out, for good reason - in 2004, Voyager 1 discovered the boundary of the shock wave at a distance of 12 billion km from the Sun - exactly as Soviet scientists predicted. The speed of the solar wind has sharply decreased by 4 times. And so, now the shock wave was left behind - the probe went into interstellar space. At the same time, some oddities are noted: for example, the predicted change in direction did not occur magnetic field plasma.

In addition, the loud statement about leaving the solar system is not entirely correct - the probe has ceased to feel the influence of the solar wind, but has not yet got out of the gravitational field of the solar system (Hill's sphere) 1 light year in size - this event is expected to occur not earlier than 18,000 years later.

Will Voyager make it to the edge of the Hill sphere? Will the probe be able to detect Oort Cloud objects? can he reach the stars? Alas, we will never know about it.

According to calculations, in 40,000 years, Voyager 1 will fly by at a distance of 1.6 light years from the star Gliese 445. It is difficult to predict the further path of the probe. In a million years the hull of the starship will be mangled by cosmic particles and micrometeorites, but the space reconnaissance aircraft that has fallen asleep forever will continue its lonely wandering in interstellar space. It is expected that he will live in outer space for about 1 billion years, remaining by that time the only reminder of human civilization.

According to materials:
http://www.astrolab.ru/
http://www.nasa.gov/
http://www.rg.ru/
http://www.wikipedia.org/

October 25, 2016 at 04:09 pm

70 years of the first photograph of Earth from space

• photographic equipment,
• astronautics

The first photograph of the Earth from space was taken on film on October 24, 1946 from a V-2 ballistic missile.

On October 24, 1946, long before the Soviet Sputnik 1 officially opened the space age for mankind, a small search party of American scientists and soldiers gathered in the New Mexico desert. They were tasked with finding the crash site of the V-2 rocket and a cassette with 35 mm film.

People were preparing for the first time in their history to see something incredible: what the Earth looks like from space.

On that day, a V-2 ballistic missile was launched from the launch site of the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, USA. Unlike previous rocket launches by Wernher von Braun, now the V-2 has been launched vertically.

A movie camera loaded with 35mm film took one frame every 1.5 seconds. The rocket rose to a height of about 105 kilometers, and then fell down, crashing into the ground at a speed of 150 meters per second. The camera was completely broken, but the film itself in the steel cassette remained intact.

19-year-old US Army private Fred Rulli was one of the members of the group that was sent to search on October 24, 1946. The find did not make much impression on the military members of the expedition. But something incredible happened to the scientists. When they found the steel cassette intact, they were overjoyed: “They were jumping around like kids,” Rulli recalls. The sheer madness began when the film was delivered to the launch site, developed and for the first time showed photographs on the screen: "The scientists just went crazy," the private stated.

Until that moment, the record photograph of the earth's surface, taken from the highest altitude, was a picture from the American military helium balloon Explorer II, which rose into the air at 22,066 m in 1935. High enough to fix the curvature the globe(for the first time in the history of photography, the curvature of the horizon was photographed on August 31, 1933 by balloonist Alexander Dahl).

The camera on the V-2 rocket has broken the record more than five times. People saw how our bright planet looks against the backdrop of the darkness of space.

"The photographs show for the first time what our Earth looks like to aliens who will arrive in a spacecraft," said Clyde Holliday, rocket camera design engineer, in a commentary for national geographic. This magazine published an article about a unique photography in 1950, when film frames were glued together.

The result of the editing of frames made during the launch of the V-2 on October 24, 1946

It was an amazing event.

Engineer Wernher von Braun (with a handkerchief in his jacket pocket)

The launch on October 24, 1946 was one of many experiments in the V-2 research program conducted by a group of engineers led by Wernher von Braun, who were transferred to work in the United States after the war as part of Operation Paperclip. For them, the United States Joint Intelligence Objectives Agency (JIOA) created fictitious biographies and removed references to membership in the NSDAP and links to the Nazi regime from open records. The general public became aware of this covert operation by accident in December 1946, when Chief Design Engineer Walter Riedel became the subject of a published article "German Scientist Claims American Food Is Tasteless and Chicken Is Like Rubber."

From 1946 to 1950, thanks to the V-2 launches, the Americans took more than 1000 pictures of the Earth from a height of up to 160 km.

The famous German engineer Wernher von Braun started working on a rocket with liquid fuel in 1930. A key influence on him was Professor Herman Oberth, who is called one of the six founders of modern rocket science and astronautics, along with Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Yuri Kondratyuk (and at the beginning of the 20th century, Kondratyuk calculated the optimal flight trajectory to the Moon, which NASA later used in the Apollo lunar program ), Friedrich Zander, Robert Hainaut-Peltri and Robert Goddard.

Wernher von Braun later recalled of his mentor: “Hermann Oberth was the first who, thinking about the possibility of creating spaceships, picked up a slide rule and presented mathematically sound ideas and designs ... Personally, I see in him not only the guiding star of my life, but also owe him my first contacts with the theoretical and practical issues of rocket science and space flight.

After the launch of the first satellites, photographing the Earth became one of the main tasks of state, and then private programs. The Earth was filmed not only from satellites, but also from other spacecraft. For example, launched on September 12, 1966, the American manned spacecraft Gemini 11 took a picture from an altitude of 1368 km.

Photo from Gemini 11

Three years later, in July 1969, the crew of Apollo 11 took the famous photograph of the Earth above the Moon's horizon. The picture was taken from lunar orbit at a distance of about 400,000 km from Earth.

Photo from Apollo 11

A different scale of the Earth is shown in a photograph taken by the Apollo 15 crew on July 26, 1971.

Photo from Apollo 15

With every decade our spacecraft further and further away into space, mastering the expanses of the solar system. On November 3, 1973, NASA launched Mariner 10, the first successful launch in the Mariner series. She became the first to visit Mercury on March 29, 1974. En route to Mercury, the spacecraft took a photograph of the Earth and Moon from a distance of 2.57 million km, photographing them together for the first time.

Perhaps the most remarkable photograph of the Earth was taken by the Voyager 1 probe on June 6, 1990, ten years after the start of its journey.

Photograph of the Earth from Voyager 1 (distance 6.05 billion km)

This picture went down in history as

The globe in our imagination seems to be a gigantic system that functions according to its own rules. Everything in our world is relative. If we consider the Earth as a planet of the solar system, it will not be so large in size relative to others.

Our planet is very beautiful, from which side you look at it. Terrestrial landscapes delight the eye, fauna and flora delight. Pictures taken on orbiting satellites or the ISS open up more more possibilities see the enchanting beauty of the Earth, which should be protected and protected.

Photo of the Earth from space in high quality

The photographs of the globe that are published in this section of our website are genuine and taken by astronauts of the International Space Station. Very few people get a chance to observe our planet from space. Therefore, we thank the European Space Agency, NASA and the astronauts for the footage they provide to the public. Previously, you could only see something like this in Hollywood films, but there these photos were not always real.

Pictures of the Earth from space are of interest not only to the military, meteorologists, and geodesists. Everyone wants to look at the giant ball from afar, to find approximately their own location on it. Looking at such high quality photos, you are amazed at the beauty and fragility of our planet. How great is the variety of landscapes and climatic conditions… In the pictures you can see the coastline of the continents, see large sizes atmospheric eddies, glaciers in Antarctica and the Arctic, deserts and mountains, cities and megacities.

Incredibly beautiful photos of the night Earth are obtained. The darkened side of the planet sparkles with many lights. From them we can draw conclusions about the size of individual cities and the geography of human settlement.

Real photos of the Earth from space

Flying on an airplane and looking out the window, you can see the sky, clouds, earthly landscapes. People who jump from an airplane with a parachute are pursuing not only the feeling of adrenaline, but also the desire to see the earth's surface from a bird's eye view. Earth from space looks very different. The portal site selects for visitors only real high-quality photos that change our imagination about the Universe. The feelings we get while watching them cannot be compared with anything earthly. The view of the planet from the mysterious Cosmos cannot be expressed in words. Only people who have conquered outer space, our astronauts, can describe it. We are proud that it was our compatriot, Yuri Gagarin, who became the first space traveler. Thanks to the achievements of science, which allowed a person to overcome the force of gravity, now everyone can see what is impossible to see from the Earth.

Thinking about the meaning of life, the arrangement of the world that awaits us in a decade, it is impossible to find an answer to these questions. In photos taken from spaceships, the Earth appears to be round and small. Actually it is not. It's just that the distance from which the photograph is taken is gigantic.

The most interesting thing, of course, would be to watch not a video or a photo, but to see this wonderful planet called Earth from the Cosmos. Perhaps that time is not far off. Some of us will overcome the force of gravity, see the beauty of the planet from afar and do more than one thing. beautiful photo. He will be incredibly proud and happy to receive a ticket to space!

Seeing Earth from space is an unforgettable experience. It is something soothing, beautiful and inspiring. Let's hope that in the near future many, and not just a select few, will be able to enjoy the view of our home planet from space. Until we have such an opportunity, we have to be content with breathtaking photographs like the ten that are included in this collection.

(Total 11 photos)

1. Earth from a distance of 4 billion miles from Voyager 1 (luminous dot in the center of the right glare). This photograph is an enlarged portion of one of the 16 frames that make up a panoramic view of the solar system. (NASA)

2. The most detailed view of the Earth for 2002, collected by a team of specialists from many frames made over many months. Most of the data was collected by the MODIS probe from the Terra research satellite. (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Image by Reto Stockli)

3. Earth Rise. The picture was taken from the Apollo 11 in 1969 during the first manned flight and landing on the moon. (NASA)

4. The first shot of the Earth and the Moon in one frame. It was taken by the Voyager 1 spacecraft from a distance of 11.66 million kilometers from Earth. (NASA)

5. Terminator line on the surface of the Earth, the picture was taken during the Apollo 11 mission to the moon. (NASA)

7. View of the Earth and the Moon from Mars. The first ever photograph of the Earth from another planet, taken by the Mariner 10 probe. (SA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems)

8. Earthrise, view from dark side Moon. Photo taken from Apollo 16, 1972. The first photographs of the dark side of the Moon were taken by the Soviet apparatus Luna-3 in 1959. A man first saw her with his own eyes in 1968 from the board of Apollo 8. (NASA)

9. Astronaut from the crew of "Apollo 17" sets the flag on the surface of the moon, 1972. The mission, which lasted 504 hours, made it possible to bring 117 kg of soil samples from the Moon and carry out in-depth geological exploration. (NASA)

10. Crescent Earth above the lunar horizon. Photo from the Apollo 15, 1971. During this lunar mission, the MRV rover, capable of speeds up to 16 km / h, was used for the first time.

11. Water is everywhere on our planet - from earth's crust to our cells. Water in the oceans and in the atmosphere. In the form of liquid or ice, it covers 75% of the planet's surface. The total volume of water on Earth is estimated at 1.39 billion cubic kilometers, and 96.5% of this volume is in the oceans. (NASA Earth Observatory)

Post from the Past: On September 22, after sending the Expedition 23 crew into space, Colonel Douglas H. Wheelock assumed command of the International Space Station and the Expedition 25 crew. aboard the space station. We bring to your attention incredible, breathtaking photographs of our planet from an unusual point of view. Comments provided by Douglas.

1. Go, "Discovery"! On October 23, 2007 at 11:40 am, I went into space for the first time on the Discovery shuttle. He's beautiful... it's a pity that this is his last flight. I look forward to boarding the ship and it will arrive at the station in November.

2. Earth radiance. Space station in the blue earth glow that appears when the rising sun penetrates the thin atmosphere of our planet, and the station is bathed in blue light. I will never forget this place… from such a sight the soul sings, and the heart wants to fly.

3. NASA astronaut Douglas H. Wheelock.

4. Juan de Nova Island in the Mozambique Channel between Madagascar and Africa. The amazing color scheme of these places can compete with the views of the Caribbean.

5. Northern lights in the distance on one of the beautiful nights over Europe. The photo clearly shows the Strait of Dover, however, like Paris, the city of lights. Light fog over the western part of England, in particular over London. How incredible to see the lights of cities and towns against the backdrop of deep space. I will miss this view of our amazing world.

6. “Fly me to the Moon…let me dance among the Stars…” (Take me to the Moon, let's dance among the stars). I hope we never lose the sense of wonder. A passion for exploration and discovery is a great legacy to leave to your children. I hope someday we will set sail and go on a journey. Someday this wonderful day will come...

7. Of all the places on our magnificent planet, few can compete in beauty and richness of colors with. This photo shows our Progress-37 ship with the Bahamas in the background. How beautiful is our world!

8. At a speed of 28,163 km/h (8 km per second)… we orbit the Earth, making one revolution every 90 minutes, and watching sunsets and sunrises every 45 minutes. So half of our journey takes place in total darkness. For work, we simply need lights on helmets. In this photo, I am preparing the handle of one device ... "M3 Ammonia Connector".

9. Every time I look out the window and see our beautiful planet, my soul sings! I see blue skies, white clouds and a bright blessed day.

10. Another spectacular sunset. In Earth's orbit, we see 16 such sunsets every day, and each of them is truly valuable. This beautiful thin blue line is what sets our planet apart from many others. It is cold in space, and the Earth is an island of life in the vast dark sea of ​​space.

11. Beautiful atoll in pacific ocean photographed with a 400mm lens. Approximately 1930 km south of Honolulu.

12. Beautiful reflection of sunlight in the eastern part mediterranean sea. There are no borders visible from outer space… From there, only a breathtaking view opens up, like, for example, the view of this island of Cyprus.

13. Above the center Atlantic Ocean before another amazing sunset. Below, in the rays of the setting sun, the spirals of Hurricane Earl are visible. An interesting look at the life energy of our sun. Sun rays on the port side of the station and on Hurricane Earl... these two objects are collecting the last bits of energy before plunging into darkness.

14. A little further east we saw the sacred monolith of Uluru, better known as Ayers Rock. I have never had the opportunity to visit Australia, but someday I hope to be able to stand next to this natural wonder.

15. Morning over the Andes in South America. I do not know for sure the name of this peak, but I was simply amazed by its magic, stretching towards the sun and winds of the peaks.

16. Over the Sahara desert, approaching ancient lands and thousands of years of history. The Nile River flows through Egypt past the Pyramids of Giza in Cairo. Further, the Red Sea, the Sinai Peninsula, the Dead Sea, the Jordan River, as well as the island of Cyprus in the Mediterranean Sea and Greece on the horizon.

17. Night view of the Nile River, serpentine through Egypt to the Mediterranean Sea, and Cairo, located in the river delta. What a contrast between the dark, lifeless desert of North Africa and the Nile River, on the banks of which life is in full swing. The Mediterranean Sea is visible in the distance in this picture taken on a beautiful autumn evening.

18. Our unmanned 'Progress 39P' approaching the ISS for refueling. It is full of food, fuel, spare parts and everything we need for our station. Inside was a real gift - fresh fruits and vegetables. What a miracle after three months of tube feeding!

20. Soyuz 23C Olympus module docked to the nadir side. When our work is done here, we will return home to Earth. I thought you'd be interested in seeing this spectacle through the Dome. We are flying over the snow-capped peaks of the Caucasus. Rising Sun reflected from the Caspian Sea.

21. A flash of color, movement and life on the canvas of our wonderful world. This is part of the Great Barrier Reef off the east coast of Australia, shot through a 1200mm lens. I think even the great impressionists would be amazed by this natural picture.

22. All the beauty of Italy on a clear summer evening. You can see many beautiful islands that adorn the coast - Capri, Sicily and Malta. Naples and Mount Vesuvius stand out along the coast.

23. In the southern end South America lies the pearl of Patagonia. Amazing beauty of rocky mountains, massive glaciers, fjords and high seas combined in amazing harmony. I dreamed about this place. I wonder what it's like to breathe in the air there. Real magic!

24. The "dome" on the nadir side of the station gives a panoramic view of our beautiful planet. Fedor took this picture from the window of the Russian docking bay. In this photo, I'm sitting in the dome, getting my camera ready for our evening flight over Hurricane Earl.

25. Greek Islands on a clear night during our flight over Europe. Athens shines brightly along the Mediterranean Sea. An unreal feeling arises when you see all the beauty of the ancient earth from space.

26. Florida and the southeastern part of the USA in the evening. Clear autumn evening, moonlight over the water and a sky strewn with millions of stars.

27. Clear starry night over the eastern Mediterranean. Ancient lands with a thousand-year history stretch from Athens to Cairo. Historical lands, fabulous cities and enticing islands... Athens - Crete - Rhodes - Izmir - Ankara - Cyprus - Damascus - Beirut - Haifa - Amman - Tel Aviv - Jerusalem - Cairo - they all turned into tiny lights on this cool November night. From these places it seems to breathe grace and tranquility.

Part 3

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