Space laboratory transmits first pictures

PARIS, March 11 (UPI) -- The European Space Agency said the first pictures of Earth taken by its Columbus laboratory at the International Space Station have been received.

The laboratory's Earth Viewing Camera is one of the experiments housed on the laboratory's external platform. It initially malfunctioned after the lab was installed last month but after several weeks of troubleshooting by the EVC team in the Netherlands, the first pictures from the orbiting camera have arrived on Earth, the ESA said.

The initial image, showing a dimly illuminated cloud-covered region was downloaded last Thursday. A second picture taken shortly after dawn Friday -- the first to be produced on command from the ground -- shows scattered white and pink clouds close to the Aleutian Islands in the north Pacific, the ESA said.

Massimo Sabbatini, the ESA's principal investigator for the EVC, said the camera is intended to be a resource for public education.

"We hope to encourage teachers and students to use the EVC as a tool for studying all aspects of Earth observation from space -- imaging, telemetry, telecommunications links and orbit predictions," said Sabbatini. "We are also hoping to receive requests for images of particular regions over which the ISS is passing."