The International Space Station (ISS) operates at an altitude of around 250 miles, and astronauts onboard frequently do spacewalks to repair/improve the station.
While astronauts are often photographed or recorded during their spacewalks, it is uncommon for someone to catch a spacewalk from the Earth's surface. German astrophotographer Sebastian Voltmer captured a high-resolution picture of the International Space Station (ISS) last week, showing NASA astronaut Raja Chari and European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Matthias Maurer during a spacewalk.
Update: 2 Spacewalkers Imaged From The Ground
— Dr. Sebastian Voltmer (@SeVoSpace) March 28, 2022
During the #spacewalk of the two astronauts @Astro_Raja and @astro_matthias the International Space Station appeared shortly after sunset in the bright evening sky over Germany. This image of the #ISS was taken on March 23, 2022. pic.twitter.com/xkKJtSoZFc
Voltmer reports that the picture was taken on March 23, 2022, using the C11 EdgeHD telescope. Additionally, the astrophotographer said that during the spacewalk, the ISS began to show in the brilliant morning sky above Germany.
"I feel like I just made a once-in-a-lifetime image. It's probably the first ground-based picture showing two spacewalkers on the ISS at the same time," wrote Voltmer.