Sunrise through the solar arrays

Sunrise through the solar arrays
Credit: NASA

On July 26, 2017, a member of the Expedition 52 crew aboard the International Space Station took this photograph of one of the 16 sunrises they experience every day, as the orbiting laboratory travels around Earth. One of the solar panels that provides power to the station is seen in the upper left.

The station's produce more power than it needs at one time for station systems and experiments.

When the station is in sunlight, about 60 percent of the electricity that the solar arrays generate is used to charge the station's batteries.

The batteries power the station when it is not in the sun.

Provided by NASA

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Image: Solar arrays on the International Space Station

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