No I dont think so. It's too clear to be a layered image as it all looks uniform. Either it was repainted just before the Irons version for whatever reason, or the space station was painted black and the astronauts were removed, but the window wasn't painted over because they figured it was too dark to see it, which they rectified in 2007 when they hung the blue lights. @marni1971 may have more info.
I don’t think its a composite; more a heavily enhanced image to bring out the dark details. I maybe even have done it myself (I’ve done so much with 180top over the last decade ive forgotten more than I remember) but here’s a similar one I know I did using the same method post 1994:
That's basically what I meant - a photo like this, with a separate picture of the girl laid into it. But that's a guesstimation, I don't know for sure. The picture just looked 'shopped, and it would explain why the station was suddenly darker than anyone had record of it being while the girl was actually in the window.
I'm hoping against hope that the refurb will make everything old, new again. Maybe they can save the window girl and have her wave to this guy cruising by...... !
"Like a grand and miraculous spaceship, Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster has sailed through the universe of time; and for a brief moment, a single lonely astronaut has been it’s passenger."
