International Space Station view

Image taken by ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano from outside the International Space Station on the first spacewalk to service the cosmic ray detecting Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS-02).

The image shows the Japanese Kibo module left and the solar arrays in the distance over Earth. Luca and his spacewalking partner NASA astronaut Andrew Morgan were on the first of several spacewalks in the complex series to maintain AMS-02 on Friday 15 November 2019. It was the first time a European astronaut has held the leading role in a spacewalk known as EV1.

The spacewalk went so well that the pair even managed to complete some tasks scheduled for the next spacewalk in the series.