Historic Pairing: Shuttle Docked To the ISS

astroengine writes "It's been imaged in artists' renderings, but never before in actual photos: the sight of a space shuttle berthed at the International Space Station. This view of shuttle Endeavour, taken by Italian astronaut Paulo Nespoli from aboard a Russian Soyuz capsule on May 23, is the culmination of 36 space shuttle missions to build the outpost over the past 12 years. NASA wanted the shot before it retires the shuttle fleet after one final mission in July."

What I'll miss most...

[Soft]

Now that Paolo Nespoli is back on the ground, I'll miss the updates on his photo album [flickr.com], where he regularly treated us with pictures of Earth, cities, and fun stuff on the ISS itself. Fortunately, they're still online!

(And it's Paolo, not Paulo; he's Italian, not Portuguese...)