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Amateur Photographer Surprises by Capturing a Rare Photo of NASA Astronaut Walking in Space from Earth, Providing a Unique View of Space Exploration.
On a chilly night in January, Charline Giroud, amateur astrophotographer and biochemist from University of Oxford, achieved an extraordinary feat. As the International Space Station (ISS) crossed the sky at 28,000 km/h, Giroud pointed her telescope and captured a rare image: NASA astronaut Sunita “Suni” Williams during a spacewalk.
The image shows Williams gripping the end of the Canadarm-2, the station’s robotic arm. The ISS was orbiting 402 km above Earth. Giroud, with precision and patience, managed to photograph the exact moment Williams emerged from the station, illuminated by the sun.
“I have been photographing the ISS with my telescope for nearly four years as an amateur astrophotographer, and taking a picture of an astronaut during a spacewalk has been on my bucket list for quite some time,” said Giroud.
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A Very Difficult Feat
The task was not simple. On the first pass of the ISS, clouds obstructed visibility. However, during the second attempt, the sky cleared up.
Giroud was following the spacewalk live on NASA TV. “At the beginning of the pass, I saw Suni on the Canadarm-2, moving from the airlock camera platform to another worksite,” she said. She was separated from the station’s wall and perfectly illuminated by the sun. I knew she would be clearly visible in the final photograph,” she stated.
The photograph, taken on January 30, shows Williams as a tiny white dot just 8 pixels wide.
Despite its modesty, the image represents a milestone. Williams broke the record for the most hours spent on spacewalks by a female astronaut, totaling 62 hours and 6 minutes outside the ISS. She surpassed the previous record held by Peggy Whitson and became the fourth most experienced spacewalker in NASA history.
Additionally, Suni Williams made history as the first astronaut to be photographed from the ground during a spacewalk. NASA celebrated the achievement in an Instagram post: “Williams made history during last week’s spacewalk.”
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