The Earth appears to sit just beyond the reach of a robotic arm stretching out from the International Space Station (ISS).

The space station’s Canadarm2 handy mechanical appendage capably of “walking” end over end under the guidance of an astronaut inside the ISS or a flight controller on Earth. The arm is primarily used to move cargo, ISS components, astronauts and cameras to their workstations outside the station’s exterior.

Here, a member of the two-astronaut Expedition 13 crew photographed the Canadarm2 and a portion of one of the station’s solar arrays as the Earth passed below.

ISS Expedition 13 commander Pavel Vinogradov and flight engineer Jeffrey Williams arrived at the station on April 1 and are serving a six-month mission aboard the orbital laboratory.

• Remote Access: Canadarm 2 Gets a Hand From Ground Control
• Complete Coverage: ISS Expedition 13

-- Tariq Malik

Credit: NASA/JSC.