Earth From Space: Amazing Astronaut Photos
Canadarm2 Above Earth
"Aurora like thunderstorms on the horizon with a bit of sunrise and Venus(?) rising up through it," wrote Rick Mastracchio Feb. 27 on Twitter. In the foreground is Canadarm2, a robotic arm used for space station assembly and repairs. [Read full story.]
Shiny Golden Boot
The lights of Italy shine at night in this Feb. 15 picture from Koichi Wakata, an astronaut from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. [Read full story.]
San Francisco's Harbor From Space
The Golden Gate Bridge is visible in this picture of San Francisco that NASA astronaut Rick Mastracchio shared from the International Space Station Feb. 23. [Read full story.]
Shimmering 'Wall Of Light'
"Another photo of aurora at south of Australia. A huge wall of light," wrote Koichi Wakata, an astronaut from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Feb. 23. [Read full story.]
Cargo Ship Pulling Away From Station
Through a porthole in the International Space Station, NASA astronaut Rick Mastracchio caught this view of Orbital Sciences Corp.'s Cygnus cargo spacecraft departing Feb. 18, over the Middle East. [Read full story.]
Moon Drifts Out Of View
Earth's moon sets above the atmosphere of our planet. Picture taken by Koichi Wakata, from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and posted Feb. 21. [Read full story.]
Jagged Mountaintops
The Himalayas rise up just north of Nepal, India in this Feb. 11 photo from NASA astronaut Rick Mastracchio, aboard the International Space Station. [Read full story.]
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Eye Of The Storm
"We flew over a big tropical cyclone 'Guito' near Madagascar this morning, wrote Koichi Wakata, an astronaut from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Feb. 21. [Read full story.]
Come Sail Away
Boats are visible in this picture of a Maldive island taken by Rick Mastracchio from the International Space Station and posted Feb. 10. [Read full story.]
America's Heartland
"Heartland of America. Has a certain beauty to it," wrote NASA astronaut Mike Hopkins Feb. 26. Hopkins and fellow Expedition 38 crew members Sergey Ryazanskiy and Oleg Kotov safely returned to Earth March 11. [Read full story.]
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Elizabeth Howell (she/her), Ph.D., is a staff writer in the spaceflight channel since 2022 specializing in Canadian space news. She was contributing writer for Space.com for 10 years before joining full-time. Elizabeth's reporting includes multiple exclusives with the White House, speaking several times with the International Space Station, witnessing five human spaceflight launches on two continents, flying parabolic, working inside a spacesuit, and participating in a simulated Mars mission. Her latest book, "Why Am I Taller?" (ECW Press, 2022) is co-written with astronaut Dave Williams.