The NASA astronaut’s picture was taken from an orbit of 250 miles (400km) above our home planet. The photo features the space station’s robotic Canadarm2 holding onto the SpaceX Dragon.
Behind the robotic arm and capsule, you can see the puffy white cloud tops and blue waters of Earth.
To the left of the fisheye photo, you can see the beautiful gleam of the Sun reflected in Earth’s oceans.
SpaceX launched the Dragon spacecraft to the ISS earlier this month for one of its routine cargo resupply missions.
The Dragon capsule was packed with supplies and materials for the six astronauts who call the ISS home.
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The SpaceX capsule was also filled with scientific instruments and experiments that will benefit from the ISS’ microgravity environment.
As the capsule approached the ISS, it was grabbed by the station’s robotic appendage.
Mrs Koch shared the stunning picture with her more than 141,700 followers on Twitter.
She tweeted: “Stunning robotics show right out of the window!
“The amazing @csa_asc Canadarm Dextre manipulator accessed the trunk of #Dragon to extract and install a science instrument called HISUI, which will observe Earth’s energy resources to benefit agriculture and the environment.”
The space station’s Canadarm2 is one of the orbital laboratory’s signatures tools used in space.
Stunning robotics show right out of the window!
Christina Koch, NASA astronaut
Dubbed by NASA the “Canadian crane”, the instrument was originally used on the space shuttle to move around objects in the spaceplane’s cargo bay.
The Canadarm2 was then fitted to the ISS and thanks to its clever design can be mounted on different parts of the ISS.
NASA said: “The crane is called a robotic arm for several good reasons.
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“Just as a human arm lifts heavy objects, the Canadarm2 uses its joints to create a flexible range of motion, rather than merely moving up and down.
“In the ISS crane, there are three joints similar to shoulder joints, one elbow-like joint, and three wrists.
“Depending on the task it is performing, Canadarm2 moves at variable speeds.”
When unloaded, the robotic crane moves at a sluggish pace of just 1.21ft per second.
When the Candarm2 was used during the space stations’ assembly, the arm moved at an even slower pace of just 0.79 inches per second.
NASA said: “That may sound slow, but keep in mind that the Canadarm2 is a large machine.
“It’s 17.6 meters – 57.7 feet – long when fully extended, weighs 1,800 kilograms – 3,968 lbs – and can work with up to 116,000 kg – 255,736 lbs – of work.”
As of October 28, 2019, 239 individuals from 19 countries have visited the International Space Station.
The orbital laboratory is home to six astronauts at once but has on past occasions hosted nine astronauts at once.
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