The Moon seen from the International Space Station by ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet on 30 May 2021.

Thomas commented on the photo: "The Cupola windows have scratch panes on the inside, that protect the windows from camera lenses bumping into it... but they are quite scratched over the years and it makes it very difficult to take pictures with the big lenses… only one window has a bump shield that slides open. I was only too happy to see the Moon frame itself perfectly in that window. Serendipity! The Moon is symbolically getting closer all the time with new programmes and humans set to land on our natural satellite in the next few years, brought there by the European Service Module for NASA's Orion spacecraft..."

Latest updates on the Alpha mission can be found via @esaspaceflight on Twitter, with more details on ESA’s exploration blog via thomaspesquet.esa.int.

Background information on the Alpha mission is available at www.esa.int/MissionAlpha with a brochure at www.esa.int/AlphaBrochure.