Shuttle Atlantis and the Hubble Telescope cross in front of the sun in this image captured by Thierry Legault
Enlarged section added to show greater detail. The shuttle was traveling at 15,534 mph. The trip across the sun takes 0.8 seconds.
Last week Atlantis was launched from the Kennedy Space Center on a mission to repair the aging and ailing Hubble Telescope.
These images captured by Thierry Legault help to put the enormity and awesome nature of our universe in perspective.
There are those who believe that mankind can influence the earth in a negative way. These photographs should help us to remember that we are miniscule in the grand scheme of things.
Shuttle Atlantis crosses in front of the sun prior to its’ rendezvous with Hubble. The narrow profile indicates that the payload bay doors are open.
And so, while the petty politicians bleat, and the small and not so small wars rage on in fits and starts, almost everyone on the Earth will sleep tonight with someone they don’t really mind all that much. And tomorrow the kids in the playground across the street will run and skip and jump at recess. And tomorrow our planet, one of many like it or perhaps alone in the universe, will turn full of much more goodness and grace than hate and suffering.
And tomorrow, somewhere in mid-heaven, floating weightless between the Earth and the Sun, men and women will carefully repair and refurbish a telescope so that we might see ever deeper into the whole of creation, and perhaps even, just a bit, into the mind and purposes of God.
Hubble’s Astounding Photographs:
