Here's a photo of the Pyramids that I shot today. Easier to see than the Great Wall! This is an 800mm shot. I had gotten one of the area early in the mission, using a 180mm. This was a fortuitous photo. Since it wasn't planned, I had to grab the first camera in sight. Unfortunately, this camera is an old one and was kind of dirty, hence the piece of debris that's visible!

Here's a photo of the Pyramids that I shot today. Easier to see than the Great Wall! This is an 800mm shot. I had gotten one of the area early in the mission, using a 180mm. This was a fortuitous photo. Since it wasn't planned, I had to grab the first camera in sight. Unfortunately, this camera is an old one and was kind of dirty, hence the piece of debris that's visible!

The Moon Capturing the feeling of spaceflight Progress 17 docks to International Space Station China/Russia Border Beijing A Walk in Space My Russian Orlan Suit Greece Egypt China Launch Complex Argentina Nepal/China Border Region Chi Lien Mountains South Africa Salamat Basin in Chad Mozambique Corrientes, Argentina Dec. 10, 2004 Blog Malaysia Patagonian Glaciers Bolivia

Click here for AsianConnections' exclusive interview with Leroy while in training at Star City, Russia.

Astronaut Leroy Chiao's Space Blog-the moon

Hi Lia

How are you? I'm counting down the days. Just a little over 50 to go!

This shot of the moon was another accident. I happened to look out the window as the moon was setting behind the earth. I shot this with an 800mm lens. This turned out nicely, as it caught the true flavor of the flourescent blue shades of the earth limb in sunlight.

Capturing the feeling of spaceflight Progress 17 docks to International Space Station China/Russia Border Beijing A Walk in Space My Russian Orlan Suit Greece Egypt China Launch Complex Argentina Nepal/China Border Region Chi Lien Mountains South Africa Salamat Basin in Chad Mozambique Corrientes, Argentina Dec. 10, 2004 Blog Malaysia Patagonian Glaciers Bolivia

Click here for AsianConnections' exclusive interview with Leroy while in training at Star City, Russia.

Astronaut Leroy Chiao's Space Blog-capturing the feeling of spaceflight

We received a new Progress resupply ship last night. As it approached under 100 meters, I was able to capture it in perfect lighting, as it crossed the earth limb. Again, one can see the shades of flourescent blue as well as the detail of the ship. This shot captures the feeling of spaceflight!

Progress 17 docks to International Space Station China/Russia Border Beijing A Walk in Space My Russian Orlan Suit Greece Egypt China Launch Complex Argentina Nepal/China Border Region Chi Lien Mountains South Africa Salamat Basin in Chad Mozambique Corrientes, Argentina Dec. 10, 2004 Blog Malaysia Patagonian Glaciers Bolivia

Click here for AsianConnections' exclusive interview with Leroy while in training at Star City, Russia.

The Progress 17 carrying fresh supplies docks to the International Space Station

The ISS Progress 17 craft automatically docked to the aft port of the Zvezda Service Module at 2:10 p.m. CST as the Station flew 225 statute miles over the equator west of Africa. Within minutes, hooks and latches between the two ships engaged, forming a tight seal. The flawless docking completed a two-day journey for the cargo ship since its liftoff Monday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan.

As the Progress approached the Station, Expedition 10 Flight Engineer Salizhan Sharipov was at the controls of a manual docking system in Zvezda, ready to take over the final approach.

The unpiloted Russian cargo ship is loaded with 386 pounds of propellant, 242 pounds of oxygen and air, 1,071 pounds of water and more than 2,900 pounds of spare parts, life support system components and experiment hardware. The manifest includes 86 containers of food, about This also includes 86 containers of food, a six-month supply to supplement theprovisions already in the Stations pantry.

Among the items on the Progress is a new heat exchanger device to replace a faulty component in the U.S. airlock needed for the resumption of spacewalks in U.S. space suits this summer. Also aboard are cameras and lenses to be used by the Expedition 11 crew to capture images of the thermal protection system on the Shuttle Discovery during its approach to the Station during the STS-114 mission in May. The photos are part of the imagery-gathering effort to ensure that the Shuttle has no threatening damage to its heat shielding.

China/Russia Border Beijing A Walk in Space My Russian Orlan Suit Greece Egypt China Launch Complex Argentina Nepal/China Border Region Chi Lien Mountains South Africa Salamat Basin in Chad Mozambique Corrientes, Argentina Dec. 10, 2004 Blog Malaysia Patagonian Glaciers Bolivia

Click here for AsianConnections' exclusive interview with Leroy while in...

Astronaut Leroy Chiao's Space Blog-China-Russia Border: This is a photo from the next orbital pass. It is of the border region between China and Russia, near Mongolia. This mountainous region is very striking and I was able to capture a detailed photo using an 800mm lens.

During my next orbital pass, I photographed the mountainous region that is the border region between China and Russia, near Mongolia. I was able to capture this detailed photo using an 800mm lens. It is very striking.

Beijing A Walk in Space My Russian Orlan Suit Greece Egypt China Launch Complex Argentina Nepal/China Border Region Chi Lien Mountains South Africa Salamat Basin in Chad Mozambique Corrientes, Argentina Dec. 10, 2004 Blog Malaysia Patagonian Glaciers Bolivia

Click here for AsianConnections' exclusive interview with Leroy while in training at Star City, Russia.