Dark Sky, Bright Sun
Credit:
STS-82 Crew,
NASA
In low Earth orbit there is not
enough atmosphere
to diffuse and scatter sunlight,
so shadows are black and
the sky is dark - even when the Sun shines.
The harsh lighting produced this
dramatic effect
as mission specialist Gregory Harbaugh
photographed colleague Joseph Tanner during
their second spacewalk to
service the Hubble Space Telescope
in February 1997.
The aft section of
the Space Shuttle Discovery is
visible in the background with
the Sun hanging over a delicate crescent of
the Earth's limb.
A checklist is attached to Tanner's left arm, and
Harbaugh's reflection is just visible in Tanner's visor.