NASA astronaut Doug Hurley arrived at the International Space Station with Bob Behnken aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft at the end of May 2020. The mission marked the first astronaut use of the Crew Dragon, and the first crewed launch from U.S. soil since the end of the space shuttle program in 2011.
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As well as working on various scientific experiments, Hurley has also been taking photos of some of the incredible sights viewable from the space station as it orbits Earth about 250 miles up, and posting them on his Twitter account for everyone to enjoy. We’ve picked out some of the best so far:
Doug Hurley: “I never get tired of this view from the Cupola as our orbit transitions into night.”Doug Hurley/NASA“Cloud art in the South Pacific.”Doug Hurley/NASA“The Bahamas, absolutely one of the most beautiful sights on Earth from space.”Doug Hurley/NASA“Sandstorms in Qatar, United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia.”Doug Hurley/NASA“We flew over this Saharan dust plume today in the west central Atlantic. Amazing how large an area it covers!”Doug Hurley/NASA“Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks; Shoshone, Caribou-Targhee, and Bridger-Teton National Forests, as well as the Wind River Mountains, all in one picture.”Doug Hurley/NASA“After a long haul flying northeast over the Pacific, even at orbital speeds, the first sight of land is the Baja Peninsula.”Doug Hurley/NASA“Was hoping for clear weather as we flew over England, France, and Belgium but the cloud pattern was almost as good.”Doug Hurley/NASA“I stayed up late last night to spend some time looking out the window. It was a beautiful day to see the Great Lakes and my childhood home in upstate New York.”Doug Hurley/NASA“Earth Art, southwest Libya.”Doug Hurley/NASA“The Los Angeles Basin, where @SpaceX headquarters is located and where Dragon #Endeavour was built. The marine layer receded just enough to see Santa Catalina and San Clemente Islands.”Doug Hurley/NASA
Watch this stunning aurora unfold from 257 miles above Earth
Stunning footage from the International Space Station (ISS) shows a glorious-looking aurora shimmering above our planet.
Captured last month and shared by the ISS on X over the weekend, the footage (below) begins with a faint green tinge on Earth's horizon as seen from the space station some 257 miles up. But as the video continues, the green tinge develops into something far more spectacular, all against a gorgeous star-filled backdrop.
Astronaut’s photo shows Earth as you’ve never seen it before
NASA astronaut Don Pettit already has a long-held reputation for creating stunning space photography, and his latest effort will only bolster it.
Shared on social media on Thursday, the image (top) shows Earth as a blaze of streaking light, an effect created by using long and multiple exposures to capture cities at night across several continents.
Departing ISS astronaut still finds time for stunning night shot
NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick is preparing to fly home aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule at the end of the seven-month Crew-8 mission, but he recently found time to snap an incredible night shot featuring the Nile River, the Nile Delta, Cairo, and beyond.
“Moonlight illuminates Cairo and the Mediterranean on a mostly clear night," Dominick wrote in a message accompanying the photo that was shared on X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday.
