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SpaceX Crew-11 astronauts put things into perspective | Space photo of the day for April 24, 2025

three men and a woman stand next to a rocket, making them look tiny or the rocket very large.

What is it?

This photo shows NASA's next crew to fly to the International Space Station, SpaceX's Crew-11, posing for a photo during a recent visit to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. From left to right: Oleg Platonov of Roscosmos, Mike Fincke and Zena Cardman of NASA and JAXA astronaut Kimiya Yui.

Behind them is a flight-proven SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket awaiting, like them, its next launch.

Where is it?

The photo was taken inside SpaceX's Hangar X at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Serving as SpaceX's rocket assembly building, the company erected Hangar X just outside the perimeter of Launch Complex 39A so rockets ready to fly can easily roll out on a transporter and be erected atop the launch pad.

Why is it amazing?

At the angle the photograph was taken, the four crew members either look really, really tiny or the Falcon 9 rocket looks really, really large.

Depending on your perspective, the whole scene may look like a set of miniatures, positioned and photographed to appear like the real-life scene it is.

Want to know more?

You can read more about the astronauts and cosmonaut assigned to fly on Crew-11.

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Robert Pearlman is a space historian, journalist and the founder and editor of collectSPACE.com, a daily news publication and community devoted to space history with a particular focus on how and where space exploration intersects with pop culture. Pearlman is also a contributing writer for Space.com and co-author of "Space Stations: The Art, Science, and Reality of Working in Space” published by Smithsonian Books in 2018.In 2009, he was inducted into the U.S. Space Camp Hall of Fame in Huntsville, Alabama. In 2021, he was honored by the American Astronautical Society with the Ordway Award for Sustained Excellence in Spaceflight History. In 2023, the National Space Club Florida Committee recognized Pearlman with the Kolcum News and Communications Award for excellence in telling the space story along the Space Coast and throughout the world.