Departing Soyuz Crew Snaps Spectacular Farewell Fly-around Exterior Photo Survey of Space Station

Photoshoot survey of the International Space Station by the
departing Soyuz MS-08 crew on Oct. 4, 2018. Credit: Roscosmos/NASA
Ken Kremer     SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM    5 November 2018


CAPE CANAVERAL, FL – The most recent Soyuz crew to depart
the International Space Station (ISS) snapped a spectacular set of survey
photos of the outposts exterior during their farewell fly-around before plunging
safely back to Earth on Oct. 4.  The photoshoot
was arranged to celebrate and coincide with the upcoming 20th
anniversary of the ISS this month. 



The new photos were released initially by Roscosmos, the
Russian space agency, followed by NASA. 

The International Space Station photographed by
Expedition 56 crew members from a Soyuz spacecraft after undocking. NASA
astronauts Andrew Feustel and Ricky Arnold and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev
executed a fly around of the orbiting laboratory to take pictures of the
station before returning home after spending 197 days in space. The station
will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the launch of the first element Zarya in November 2018. Credit: NASA/Roscosmos

They show dramatic views of the million pound Earth
orbiting research complex alternatingly backdropped by the blackness of space
and the blueness and swirling clouds and landscapes of our Home Planet – from
varying perspectives nearly 360 degrees around.




The breathtaking imagery
documenting the orbiting labs exterior was captured by the Russian/American
trio of cosmonauts and astronauts from inside their departing Russian Soyuz
MS-08 capsule; comprising NASA astronauts Drew Feustel
and Ricky Arnold,
and cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev
of the Russian space agency Roscosmos. 

Roscosmos planned the special photoshoot survey on the occasion
of the 20th anniversary of the launch of the first elements of the
ISS in November 1998 – starting with the Zarya and
Unity pressurized modules.

“Soon we are going to celebrate
this year’s most important space anniversary, #20yearsISS!” –
wrote
Roscosmos in a banner headline.



“Thanks to the crew of
Soyuz MS-08 spacecraft, we now have the opportunity to enjoy new photographs of
the International Space Station!”



“We want to extend our
thanks to the cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev and NASA astronauts Andrew Feustel and
Richard Arnold along with everyone who took part in organizing the space
photoshoot and helping to correct the program of the manned spacecraft’s
descent from the orbit for this wonderful gift just in time for the station’s
anniversary,” Roscosmos elaborated.

The Soyuz MS-08 trio undocked from the orbiting outpost at 3:57 a.m. EDT and landed safely at
7:44 a.m. EDT (5:44 p.m. in Kazakhstan) Oct. 4, southeast of the remote town of
Dzhezkazgan in Kazakhstan.



Their soft touchdown in Kazakhstan
capped the conclusion to their productive 197 day long Expedition 56 mission to
the orbiting research complex.


They left behind a three person crew
comprising German astronaut Alexander Gerst (ESA), who took command of the ISS
and began Expedition 57 with Flight Engineers Serena Auñón-Chancellor (NASA) and Sergey
Prokopyev
(Roscosmos).



That trio remains to today alone on the
station – following the failure of the next crew launch on Oct. 11 with the two
man Russian/American crew comprising
Alexey Ovchinin of
Roscosmos and 
Nick Hague of
NASA in the Soyuz MS-10 capsule.



They
survived safe and sound following an emergency abort and unplanned landing. 
Watch for Ken’s continuing onsite coverage of NASA, SpaceX, ULA,
Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and more space and mission reports direct
from the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida and
Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia.



Stay tuned here for Ken’s continuing Earth and Planetary science
and human spaceflight news: www.kenkremer.com –www.spaceupclose.com –
twitter @ken_kremer – email: ken at kenkremer.com
Dr. Kremer is a research scientist
and journalist based in the KSC area.
………….

Ken’s photos are for sale and he is available for lectures and outreach events

Ken Kremer

Watch for Ken’s continuing onsite coverage of NASA, SpaceX, ULA, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and more space and mission reports direct from Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida and Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Stay tuned here for Ken's continuing Earth and Planetary science and human spaceflight news. Dr. Kremer is a research scientist and journalist based in the KSC area, active in outreach and interviewed regularly on TV and radio about space topics. Ken’s photos are for sale and he is available for lectures and outreach events.

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