This view of space shuttle Discovery’s tail section was taken on flight day 3 by the Expedition 17 crew aboard the International Space Station. The image provides partial views of the shuttle’s main engines, orbital maneuvering system pods, vertical stabilizer, the payload bay door panels and the second component of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Kibo laboratory, which was installed on flight day 4. Before docking, STS-124 commander Mark Kelly flew the shuttle through a roll pitch maneuver to allow the space station crew a good view of Discovery’s heat shield. Using digital still cameras equipped with both 400 and 800 millimeter lenses, the station crew took a number of photos of the shuttle’s thermal protection system and sent them to teams on the ground for analysis. A 400 millimeter lens was used for this image.Image Credit: NASA