While orbiting the planet during their June 1998 mission, the crew of the Space Shuttle Discovery [
http://antwrp.gsfc.
] photographed this view [
http://www.spacefli
sts-91/html/91711028 .html ] of two moons of Earth. Thick storm clouds are visible in the lovely blue planet's nurturing atmosphere [
http://wwwt.ncep.no
] and, what was then Earth's largest artificial moon, the spindly Russian Mir Space Station [
http://science.nasa
] can be seen above the planet's limb. The bright spot to the right of Mir is Earth's very large natural satellite [
http://lunar.arc.na
], The Moon. The Mir [
http://www.russians
] orbited planet Earth [
http://nssdc.gsfc.n
earthfact.html ] once every 90 minutes about 200 miles above the planet's surface or about 4,000 miles from Earth's center. The Moon [
http://nssdc.gsfc.n
moonfact.html ] orbits once every 28 days at a distance of about 250,000 miles from the center of the Earth [
http://jv.gilead.or
].
Explanation
While orbiting the planet during their June 1998 mission, the crew of the Space Shuttle Discovery [
http://antwrp.gsfc.
] photographed this view [
http://www.spacefli
sts-91/html/91711028 .html ] of two moons of Earth. Thick storm clouds are visible in the lovely blue planet's nurturing atmosphere [
http://wwwt.ncep.no
] and, what was then Earth's largest artificial moon, the spindly Russian Mir Space Station [
http://science.nasa
] can be seen above the planet's limb. The bright spot to the right of Mir is Earth's very large natural satellite [
http://lunar.arc.na
], The Moon. The Mir [
http://www.russians
] orbited planet Earth [
http://nssdc.gsfc.n
earthfact.html ] once every 90 minutes about 200 miles above the planet's surface or about 4,000 miles from Earth's center. The Moon [
http://nssdc.gsfc.n
moonfact.html ] orbits once every 28 days at a distance of about 250,000 miles from the center of the Earth [
http://jv.gilead.or
].
Explanation