The International Space Station's crew is bidding farewell to the late South African leader Nelson Mandela with a clear view of Cape Town from more than 250 miles up.
"From the ISS we say goodbye to Nelson Mandela," NASA astronaut Rick Mastracchio wrote in a Twitter update on Friday. When Mandela died on Dec. 5 at the age of 95, NASA tweeted a months-old picture of Cape Town and the South African coast that we featured as that day's offering from the Cosmic Log Space Advent Calendar. With Mandela's funeral set for Sunday, this image provides fresh perspective on a key locale in his life. Keep an eye on the Space Advent Calendar for more views of Earth from space — and for still more cosmic holiday goodies, check The Atlantic's Hubble Advent Calendar, Zooniverse's Advent calendar and the Galileo's Pendulum Science Advent Calendar.
Previously on the Space Advent Calendar:
- Day 13: Happy St. Lucy's Day from space
- Day 12: Island of Love needs healing
- Day 11: A fractal puzzle, seen from space
- Day 10: London and Paris light the night
- Day 9: 'Starry Night' at sea
- Day 8: Mount Etna makes its mark
- Day 7: Staring down into Mount Vesuvius
- Day 6: Grand Canyon, seen and unseen
- Day 5: NASA salutes Nelson Mandela
- Day 4: Twin volcanoes act up in the Pacific
- Day 3: Syria's medieval marvel marred
- Day 2: Where the rain in Spain goes
- Day 1: Farewell, Earth ... Hello, Mars!
Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the NBC News Science Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter and adding the Cosmic Log page to your Google+ presence. To keep up with NBCNews.com's stories about science and space, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email in-box every weekday. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.