A BEAUTIFUL AERIAL PHOTO FROM THE COLUMBIA SHUTTLE

My younger brother, a science & techno & geek, has sent me this beautiful picture.

It's an aerial photo taken by the crew on board the Columbia shuttle during its last mission on a cloudless day.

Tragically, Columbia broke up on February 1st, 2003 while circling on re-entry to earth over US, due to the damage to its protective insulation by foam debris on launch.

The picture was of Europe and Africa when the sun was setting.

Half of the picture was in the night. The bright dots you see were the cities' lights.

The top part of Africa was the huge Sahara Desert and could be seen clearly both during day time and night time.

The lights were already on in Paris and Barcelona, and it was still daylight in London, Lisbon and Madrid.

The sun was still shining on the Strait of Gibraltar.

The Mediterranean Sea was already in darkness.

In the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, you could see the Azores Islands; below to the right were the Madeira Islands; a bit below were the Canary Islands; and further South, close to the farthest western point of Africa were the Cape Verde Islands.

To the left on top was Greenland, totally frozen.