To say the least, the thought of a spacewalk is exciting. Yes, it’s more like space floating than a walk. It’s difficult to picture being outside the safe spacecraft with almost nothing between you and the stars. There’s also a sense of adventure. There have been plenty of films depicting the cable linking the astronaut and the spacecraft snapping.
We had to rely on videos taken by space agencies showing astronauts performing spacewalks until today. Looking up from Earth and seeing astronauts doing their thing is nearly unfathomable.
However, thanks to a unique new invention, we can now get a ‘human’s-eye view’ of the recently completed spacewalk.
Outside the International Space Station, NASA astronaut Raja Chari and European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Matthias Maurer performed a spacewalk on March 23. (ISS). The astronauts did maintenance work on the International Space Station during the 7-hour spacewalk.
This spacewalk was recorded by an astrophotographer in what he describes as a “once in a lifetime” photo. He was on Earth and in Maurer’s hometown of Germany.
“Yesterday I witnessed the #spacewalk shortly after sunset. Here comes a first photo. #ESA #astronaut Matthias Maurer was just ‘climbing’ at this moment. The rod-shaped structure (Canadarm2) is the robot arm. Greetings from Matthias Maurer’s hometown — it was very exciting. #iss,” Dr. Sebastian Voltmer, the astrophotographer tweeted. (https://inboundrem.com)
First ground-based picture showing two spacewalkers
According to his e-mail to Space.com, Voltmer took the photo with a Celestron 11-inch EdgeHD telescope on a GM2000 HPS mount and an ASI290 planetary camera.
Voltmer examined the photograph and also altered it to show the positions of both astronauts.
“It’s probably the first ground-based picture showing two spacewalkers on the ISS at the same time,” he told spaceweather.com
The shots don’t show both astronauts clearly, but pointing your camera at the sky and capturing images of spacewalking astronauts with such clarity is quite a feat!