Orbital View: Sci-Fi Sand Dunes

Editor’s Note: This article previously appeared in a different format as part of The Atlantic’s Notes section, retired in 2021.

Beautiful dunes. Arrakis?

A photo posted by Kjell Lindgren (@astro_kjell) on

Kjell Lindgren must be a science-fiction nerd; Arrakis is a desert planet in the Dune book series by Frank Herbert.

Lindgren, along with Kelly, took a break from Instagramming and astronaut-ing to appear at a congressional hearing via satellite yesterday, which they ended with a backflip: