Earlier this week, a North Carolina native proved all the flat-earthers wrong when she posted an unedited image of North Carolina’s coastline from inside the International Space Station, an image that clearly shows the spherical shape of our planet.
Christina Koch snapped the photo when the first glimpse of the coastline came into view from high above the Earth’s atmosphere – “It took my breath away as it came into focus,” she said.
It took my breath away as it came into focus. My first glimpse of coastal North Carolina from space. It’s a special thing to see from above the place where you grew up–the ocean that first inspired my fascination with things that make me feel small & planted the seed to explore. pic.twitter.com/OZoqiOVtRR
— Christina H Koch (@Astro_Christina) April 22, 2019
Here is what the image looks like next to the Google Map’s version of the North Carolina coast;
Astronaut Koch, a graduate of NC State, is currently on a record-breaking 328-day space mission, set to return to earth in February of 2020. If everything goes according to plan, she will break the record for the longest single spaceflight ever attempted by a woman.
The current record holder is Peggy Whitson who spent a total of 289.2 days in space between 2016 and 2017.