When astronauts Chris Cassidy and Tom Marshburn left the ISS today to go fix a leaky ammonia pump all quick-like, everyone’s favourite YouTubing Canadian Commander, Chris Hadfield, stayed inside to keep things going there. But, as he is wont to do, he took some seriously awesome shots of the spacewalkers at work.
Above is shot of the pair climbing out of the airlock to embark on their little five hour plus trip into the dark vacuum of space, and the contrast of this amazing triumph of mankind against the blackness of the void is as stunning as ever.
Hadfield also tweeted a little image of the duo hanging out amongst all the pipes, cables and whatnot that covers the space station’s side, illustrating exactly how complicated the whole mess is. It’s a wonder that we have a structure that can support life up there, much less astronauts they can get outside and fix their orbital fortress at a mere days notice. Good thing they’ve got an awesome documentarian on board to capture those memories.
Approaching orbital sunset, the harshest of light, a blackness like endless velvet. pic.twitter.com/OVmdoVmjjZ
— Chris Hadfield (@Cmdr_Hadfield) May 11, 2013