NASA astronaut snaps spooky photo of SpaceX Dragon capsule from ISS

a black and white image of the belly of a spacex dragon
A view of the belly of SpaceX Dragon Freedom during the Crew-9 mission, as viewed by NASA astronaut Don Pettit on the International Space Station. (Image credit: NASA/Don Pettit)

A SpaceX Dragon capsule looks a little ghostly in a new image taken from the space station.

NASA astronaut Don Pettit snapped a picture of the Crew Dragon Freedom after the Crew-9 mission, SpaceX's ninth operational astronaut effort for the agency, docked at the International Space Station (ISS) on Sept. 29.

The black-and-white image shows the belly of the Dragon, including windows with filters on board to lessen the bright sun. "I like how the sun shines through the stitching, personifying the composition," Pettit wrote Oct. 24 on X, formerly Twitter.

Pettit took the picture using a Nikon Z9 camera with a Nikon 8mm fisheye, at a quarter of a second exposure, f2.8 and ISO 3200. The image was adjusted with software for contrast, brightness and the black-and-white view, he added.

Related: NASA astronaut makes dazzling 'Jupiter-like planet' on ISS using water and food coloring (photo)

The 69-year-old astronaut is on his fourth space mission, having racked up 370 days in orbit already before his Sept. 11 launch. Pettit didn't fly on a Dragon, however; he rode a Russian Soyuz spacecraft to the ISS.

Prior to his launch, Pettit told Space.com that he's been practicing photography regularly since his last mission in 2012-13, in which he took long-duration exposures from the ISS.

"We've got a number of new lenses on orbit that are optimized for nighttime imagery. I'm really looking forward to getting back on station and taking nighttime imagery to a new level," Pettit said.

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Elizabeth Howell
Staff Writer, Spaceflight

Elizabeth Howell (she/her), Ph.D., is a staff writer in the spaceflight channel since 2022 covering diversity, education and gaming as well. She was contributing writer for Space.com for 10 years before joining full-time. Elizabeth's reporting includes multiple exclusives with the White House and Office of the Vice-President of the United States, an exclusive conversation with aspiring space tourist (and NSYNC bassist) Lance Bass, speaking several times with the International Space Station, witnessing five human spaceflight launches on two continents, flying parabolic, working inside a spacesuit, and participating in a simulated Mars mission. Her latest book, "Why Am I Taller?", is co-written with astronaut Dave Williams. Elizabeth holds a Ph.D. and M.Sc. in Space Studies from the University of North Dakota, a Bachelor of Journalism from Canada's Carleton University and a Bachelor of History from Canada's Athabasca University. Elizabeth is also a post-secondary instructor in communications and science at several institutions since 2015; her experience includes developing and teaching an astronomy course at Canada's Algonquin College (with Indigenous content as well) to more than 1,000 students since 2020. Elizabeth first got interested in space after watching the movie Apollo 13 in 1996, and still wants to be an astronaut someday. Mastodon: https://qoto.org/@howellspace