This high-resolution photograph taken by astronauts on board the
International Space Station shows details of Athens historic ruins.
The detail panel shows actual pixels for the area of the Acropolis?some
of the most distinctive features are the Parthenon, and Odeum of Herodes
Atticus. Astronauts use a 400 mm lens and a 2 x extender on a digital camera to
take these detailed shots through the windows of the space station. By getting
immediate feedback from the camera, they learn to track the spacecraft’s
motion as it speeds over the Earth and get sharp photographs of small
features. These detailed city photographs, with a pixel representing 6
m or less on the ground, have quickly become some of the most popular
NASA images downloaded by the public.
ISS005-E-16846,
taken 7 October 2002, was provided by the Earth Sciences
and Image Analysis Laboratory at Johnson Space Center. Additional images
taken by astronauts and cosmonauts can be viewed at the NASA-JSC Gateway
to Astronaut Photography of Earth.