Passage of the ISS with Thomas Pesquet over Algarve coast in Portugal on Monday, may 8, 2017.
I had chosen the spot because the trajectory of the International Space Station culminates in the north and terminates in the northeast. Having arrived at 4:30 am, I set up my equipment on a promontory only three meters wide, with fifty meters of empty space on each side and a lovely arch overhead. The guarantee of an ambiance!
The ISS came out of the shadow of the Earth behind me in the West and I waited for it to begin its descent into the frame. It terminated its journey beneath the characteristic W of the constellation of Cassiopeia before disappearing beyond the horizon. The first glow of the dawn colored the sky which had begun to be reflected in the surface of the water on the southern side of the Portugese landscape, bristling with monoliths of red sandstone. Far off in the distance, the port of Albugeira welcomed a myriad of tiny fishing boat lights, while the brilliance of the planet Venus offered up its reflection on the surface of the ocean.