Wedding rings on the ISS
Astronaut Thomas Pesquet brought these wedding rings along for his six-month stay at the International Space Station.
Two Soyuz Speed Over Earth
Two Russian Soyuz spacecraft fly over Earth's city lights with star trails overhead in this long-exposure photo taken from the International Space Station. Relative to Earth's surface, the space station travels at about 17,500 miles per hour (28,200 km/h). These two Soyuz spacecraft, which are docked at Russia's Poisk and Rassvet modules, delivered the current crew of six to the space station. One will return to Earth next month with NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough and Russian cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrei Borisenko.
Pesquet Spacewalk Pose
French astronaut Thomas Pesquet takes a moment to pose during a spacewalk outside the International Space Station in January 2017.
Mount Etna Erupts: Astronaut View
European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet captured this view of Mount Etna erupting (bottom left of image) on March 19, 2017 from the International Space Station.
Birthday Surprise! Space Station Astronaut Reunited with Saxophone
Space station astronaut Thomas Pesquet received a saxophone surprise for his birthday. It arrived on the SpaceX Dragon on Feb. 23 and was hidden by Pesquet's crewmates until his birthday on Feb. 27.
Dublin from Space
Astronaut Thomas Pesquet took this photo of Dublin, Ireland from the International Space Station on Jan. 24, 2017.
Aurora from space
Astronaut Thomas Pesquet of the European Space Agency saw the northern lights from the International Space Station for the first time on Jan. 18, 2017 and snapped this photo of the light show with space station’s solar panels visible in the foreground. Auroras occur when radiation from the sun hits our atmosphere. "It is literally a visual representation of the Earth's magnetic field protecting all living beings from space radiation," Pesquet wrote on Flickr.
Macarons in Microgravity
Astronaut Thomas Pesquet, who celebrated his 39th birthday at the International Space Station on Feb. 27, chows down on some French macarons that arrived on SpaceX's Dragon cargo craft on Feb. 23.
Frozen Dnieper River Seen from Space
"Winter landscapes are also magical from the International Space Station," French astronaut Thomas Pesquet wrote when he shared this photo of the Dnieper River on social media. "This river north of Kiev reminds me of a Hokusai painting." Pesquet took the photo as the space station flew over Russia on Feb. 9, 2017.
Snow Clouds Seen from Space
Astronaut Thomas Pesquet captured these snow clouds over the Alps from the International Space Station in February 2017.
Behind the Scenes
The International Space Station houses many cameras the astronauts can use to capture the fantastic views offered by the post. For still images, astronauts use the Nikon D4s with several options of lenses — 8mm and 800mm with an x1.4 teleconverter, for example.
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