Expedition 65 began in April of this year aboard the International Space Station, currently home to seven crew members. The ISS orbits the Earth at about 17,150 miles per hour, making a trip around the world about every 90 minutes. Today, the astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Thomas Pesquet spent hours outside the ISS, working on newly arrived solar arrays. In the past few months, crew members of Expedition 65 have also taken some amazing photographs of our lovely planet, and I wanted to share some of these unique views below.
The Beauty of Earth From Orbit
Hints:
View this page full screen.
Skip to the next and previous photo by typing j/k or ←/→.
-
![A view of the horizon and clouds at sunrise from Earth orbit.]()
Read moreThe early-morning hues of an orbital sunrise are seen from the International Space Station as it soars 264 miles above the China-Russia border, near the the Sea of Japan, on April 28, 2021. #
NASA -
-
![An aerial view of a large snow-covered volcano.]()
Read moreA view of Mount Adams, a 12,280-foot volcano in southern Washington State, seen on May 1, 2021 #
NASA -
![A reservoir is seen filling many small valleys, making an outline that looks like tree roots.]()
Read moreThis photograph taken on May 26, 2021, looks down on Lake Nasser, the reservoir in southern Egypt that was formed by the Aswan High Dam when it was built across the Nile River. #
NASA -
![A view out a rounded window of the Earth far below, and a pair of solar panel arrays in the foreground.]()
Read moreIn this view from a window aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour, a pair of the ISS's main solar arrays drape across the Earth's horizon as the orbital lab soars 271 miles above the south Atlantic between Argentina and South Africa on May 20, 2021. #
NASA -
![A night view of the Nile Delta, showing city lights and reflected moonlight in the Mediterranean.]()
Read moreThis nighttime photograph, taken on May 20, 2021, from the ISS as it orbited 263 miles above Turkey, shows moonlight reflecting on the Mediterranean Sea and the Gulf of Suez. The city lights of Cairo and along the Nile Delta and the eastern Mediterranean coast also figure prominently. #
NASA -
![Ripples are seen in clouds as they move across a chain of islands in the Pacific Ocean.]()
Read moreClouds form patterns in the atmosphere as they move over Alaska's Aleutian Islands on May 30, 2021. #
NASA -
-
![A broad stretch of a lake is seen, with a thin white line running diagonally through the center. Each side of the lake is a different color.]()
Read moreA view of Utah's Great Salt Lake, with a long railroad causeway separating the lake's northern arm and southern arm, seen on June 3, 2021 #
NASA -
![An aerial view of Chicago and Lake Michigan.]()
Read moreLooking down on Chicago and Lake Michigan on May 5, 2021 #
NASA -
![An aerial view of a long-eroded meteorite impact crater in a desert.]()
Read moreOn May 10, 2021, a crew member aboard the ISS took this image of Chad's Aorounga Crater, an eroded meteorite impact crater in the Sahara Desert. #
NASA -
![A small white spacecraft is seen just above the horizon, heading toward the photographer.]()
Read moreThe SpaceX Cargo Dragon resupply ship approaches the ISS carrying more than 7,300 pounds of new science, supplies, and solar arrays to replenish the Expedition 65 crew on June 5, 2021. The Cargo Dragon's nose cone is open, revealing its hatch and forward-docking cone. #
NASA -
![A small streak of light is seen above the night side of the Earth.]()
Read moreA view of reentry at night. The SpaceX Crew Dragon Resilience is pictured from the ISS as it reenters Earth's atmosphere on May 2, 2021. Resilience, with its protective heat shield, reached the atmosphere at more than 17,000 miles per hour, experiencing friction and extreme heat that created a visible plasma trail streaming behind it. The astronauts Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, Shannon Walker, and Soichi Noguchi would safely parachute to a splashdown inside Resilience a few minutes later in the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Panama City, Florida. #
NASA -
-
![An aerial view of Provincetown and the tip of Cape Cod]()
Read moreA view of Provincetown and the tip of Cape Cod, in Massachusetts, on May 25, 2021 #
NASA -
![Clouds swirl in a spiral pattern, seen from orbit.]()
Read moreClouds swirl over the South Pacific on May 5, 2021. #
NASA -
![Green shimmers of light are seen above the Earth at night.]()
Read moreAn aurora is seen streaming above the Earth from a window aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon Resilience on April 19, 2021. The ISS was orbiting 271 miles above the Indian Ocean between Australia and Antarctica. #
NASA -
![A cloud formation catches a little sunlight, poking up above a sea of calmer clouds.]()
Read moreCloud formations catch a little sunlight, poking up above a sea of calmer clouds, seen above Saudi Arabia on June 11, 2021. #
NASA -
![The outline of southern Italy is visible as city lights illuminate the night side of the Earth.]()
Read moreThe night lights of Italy are prominent as the ISS soars 262 miles above Southern Europe during an orbital twilight on May 13, 2021. #
NASA -
-
![A spacecraft is seen above clouds.]()
Read moreRussia's ISS Progress 75 cargo craft is pictured from the International Space Station on April 27, 2021, after it undocked from the Zvezda service module's aft port, where it had stayed for just longer than a year. The trash-filled 75P reentered Earth's atmosphere above the South Pacific for a fiery but safe demise a day later. #
NASA -
![An astronaut works on equipment outside the International Space Station.]()
Read moreThe Expedition 65 flight engineer and Roscosmos cosmonaut Pyotr Dubrov is pictured on June 2, 2021, during a seven-hour spacewalk to ready the Pirs docking compartment ahead of its upcoming departure. #
NASA -
![A squashed, red image of the sun is seen right on the horizon.]()
Read moreSunrise above Siberia, seen on May 2, 2021 #
NASA -
![A glacier flows past mountains.]()
Read moreA view of part of Viedma Glacier in the Southern Patagonian Ice Field, seen on May 8, 2021 #
NASA -
![A flash of light is seen withng a cloud.]()
Read moreLightning strikes inside clouds above India on May 10, 2021. #
NASA -
-
![A broad view of the Caribbean Sea, nearby islands and landforms.]()
Read moreAn Expedition 65 Earth observation composite of the Bahamas, photographed by the European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet on May 2, 2021. This composite photograph of Cuba, the Bahamas, and southern Florida was captured as the ISS orbited 263 miles above the Caribbean. #
Thomas Pesquet / ESA / NASA -
![An aerial view of windswept hills set in a broad flat desert plain.]()
Read moreWindswept prominences in the Sahara Desert are seen from orbit on May 22, 2021. #
NASA -
![The moon is seen above the horizon.]()
Read moreThe moon is seen above the horizon over the Pacific Ocean, on May 30, 2021. #
NASA -
![City lights are seen at night, from far above.]()
Read moreCity lights seen from orbit above the Yellow Sea on May 2, 2021 #
NASA -
![A patchwork of hundreds of greenhouses is seen in a n aerial view.]()
Read morePlastic greenhouses cover huge plots in the province of Almeria, Spain, as seen from above on June 7, 2021. #
NASA -
-
![Parts of the ISS are seen in the foreground, with southern Italy far below, viewed through a window.]()
Read moreA view out the widow as the ISS passes over Italy on May 2, 2021 #
NASA -
![The city lights of Tokyo are seen at night.]()
Read moreThe lights of Tokyo are seen at night, with gentle moonlight illuminating the surrounding clouds, on May 1, 2021. #
NASA -
![Cloud cover meets the California coast.]()
Read moreLow clouds over the Pacific Ocean push up against the California coastline on May 5, 2021, with fog rolling into San Francisco Bay. #
NASA -
![A heart-shaped land formation is seen in a surrounding desert.]()
Read moreA heart-shaped formation is seen in Izbat Shahidi, Egypt, along the Nile River Valley, on May 1, 2021. #
NASA
We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor or write to letters@theatlantic.com.