Earth Matters

Himalayan Heights

March 4th, 2016 by Adam Voiland

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On March 1, 2016, NASA astronaut Scott Kelly returned to Earth after spending 340 days living continuously in space. That’s a record. No other American astronaut has completed a longer mission or spent more cumulative days in space.

A prolific and talented photographer, Kelly posted hundreds and hundreds of photographs of the Earth below to social media during his flight. In a fitting finale for the record-breaking explorer, one of the last photos he posted from orbit was this hazy blue scene of the Himalayas.

“The Himalayas remind me of the bigger view we see when we conquer the mountains we climb,” he said on Twitter. The tip of mountain Mount Everest is about 8.8 kilometers (5.5 miles) above sea level; Kelly was in orbit about 250 kilometers above sea level. Over the course of the mission, he traveled some 231,498,541 kilometers.

Congratulations, Scott, on your safe return. Thank you for the beautiful photos. And keep climbing.  (The image below, an astronaut photograph taken in 2013, shows K2, one the most treacherous mountains in the world for climbers. Read more about the 8K peaks here.)
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5 Responses to “Himalayan Heights”

  1. Maria Celia Hernandez says:

    Commander Kelly, Will you be in the Book of Guinness. I believe it should have you there for the time you stood up in space. It is really amazing;How the mountains and the lands look from above.

  2. steve says:

    An outstanding achievement, and the images are all pretty fantastic. I commend Scott Kelly on becoming one of our worlds Great Explorer’s alongside Robert Falcon Scott.

  3. Charles Prostak says:

    Congratulations Commander Kelly! At the very least they should send you a keg of
    Guinness!

    After viewing the your photo “Himalayan Heights”* then seeing the rain forest in Gabon the contrast made me profoundly aware of the precision of Earth’s placement from the sun.

    *World tour of your photographs starting at the Smithsonian would be terra-ific!!!

  4. Pradyumna says:

    A successful and a great achievement. Thanks Kelly for this wonderful research.

  5. mt4 mt4 says:

    Mission = Earth + Life !