See the Moon Sink Into a Sea of Air: Big Pic
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Oct. 11, 2011 -- The moon sinks into the airy sea of Earth's atmosphere in this beautiful photo by astronaut Ron Garan, taken from the International Space Station (ISS) on July 31.
Traveling at a speed of 17,500 mph (28,000 km/h) around the Earth, astronauts see the moon and sun rise and set sixteen times a day!
PHOTOS: See more stunning photographs from Ron Garan's space odyssey.
Light gets refracted as it passes through the atmosphere, creating the illusion of the moon being "squished" as it drops behind Earth's limb.
Expedition 28 Flight Engineer Ron Garan returned from five and a half months aboard the ISS on Sept. 16. He landed in Kazakhstan aboard a Soyuz TMA-21 Capsule along with Commander Andrey Borisenko and Flight Engineer Alexander Samokutyaev.
ANALYSIS: In Space, No One Can Hear You Whistle
Check out more images and stories from Ron on his blog FragileOasis.org.
-- by Jason Major.
Image credit: NASA
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