Veteran NASA astronaut Don Pettit returned from his 220-day mission on board the International Space Station in April 2025, the day of his 70th birthday, making him the oldest active astronaut on the space agency’s roster.
During his seven-month stint on board the aging orbital outpost, his fourth trip to space, Pettit took the time to photograph some dazzling views of the Earth below.
On October 20, 2024, he took a stunning picture of an airplane that was passing by at cruising altitude hundreds of miles below him, a perspective only a handful of people get to enjoy. The plane was likely at around 7.5 miles in altitude, while the ISS orbits the Earth at around 250 miles.
Don Pettit / NASA
But a moderator at the r/aviation subreddit didn’t look too kindly on the shot after Pettit posted it to the forum over the weekend, deeming it too “blurry” and taking it down as a result. According to a circulating screenshot posted by a user who first brought attention to the takedown, the mod team pointed to the subreddit’s rules to justify its decision, which state that “all blurry or low quality pictures are removed.”
The controversial decision kicked off a heated discussion — and prompted an interjection by a different moderator.
“We brought some new people onto the mod team and unfortunately there are some Learning curves,” the moderator wrote, apologizing for the takedown. “I caught the issue and fixed it. Thanks to everyone who let me know that this happened.”
“I’d say the quality of the picture is pretty dang good considering that it’s from about 250 miles away,” the mod added in a separate apology addressed to Pettit directly.
A quick perusal of Pettit’s submissions to Reddit shows several other fascinating vantage points from the ISS, from atmospheric distortion of the Moon that makes it appear squashed to the Milky Way glinting behind the Earth at night. Another long exposure shows the trails left behind by SpaceX’s Sun-reflecting Starlink satellites.
Other Reddit users were far more impressed than the mod who pulled the post down.
“Can’t believe I got flexed by someone on ISS,” one user wrote.
“Tower, can we get a speed check?” another user joked. (The ISS orbits the Earth at a ground speed of 17,100 mph, while an average passenger jet travels at around 500 to 700 mph, depending on conditions.)
Nonetheless, many users on the subreddit were left with a bad taste in their mouths, with one user describing the unfortunate takedown as “Reddit in a nutshell, baby!” — in an apparent reference to the often-pedantic nature of the people who moderate niche interest subreddits.
“Dear mods, please show NASA how to take better pictures from space so you don’t have to delete them,” the user, who initially raised the issue, wrote.
“What a joke,” another user mocked. One of the most epic pics of aviation from the coolest possible place from an actual astronaut.”
“‘This post breaks our rules,’” they added. “Give me a break, man.”
More on astrophotography: Astonishing Photo Shows Man Skydiving Through Sun
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