The Leading Edge

A close-up view of the exterior of space shuttle Endeavour's crew cabin, starboard wing and payload bay door was provided by the station's Expedition 16 crew. Before docking with the station, STS-123 commander Dominic Gorie flew the shuttle through a roll pitch maneuver, basically a backflip, to provide the station crew with a good view of Endeavour's heat shield.

Using digital still cameras equipped with both 400 and 800 millimeter lenses, the station crew took a number of photos of the shuttle's thermal protection system and sent them to teams on the ground for analysis. A 400 millimeter lens was used for this image.

Image Credit: NASA