Earth Matters

Video: Exquisite Panoramas from the International Space Station

July 25th, 2016 by Adam Voiland

If you are like me, you have probably fantasized about looking down and photographing Earth while floating in the zero gravity of space.

I suppose I should never say never, but my chances of becoming an astronaut do look pretty slim at this point in my life. But even if I can’t experience space firsthand, I may have have found the next best thing: merged panorama photographs that make me feel like I am up there. NASA astronaut Jeff Williams has been posting short video clips on his social media feeds and the results are stunning.

All of these panoramas were taken while he was orbiting about 250 miles (400 kilometers) above the surface of Earth on the International Space Station. At the time, he was moving about 17,150 miles (27,600 kilometers) per hour. The photos were taken from the Cupola, a dome-shaped module on the Space Station with bay windows that offer panoramic views of Earth. To make the videos, Williams (with help from NASA colleagues on the ground) stitched together several images into mosaics and then used computer software to pan across the mosaic.

I have posted a few of my favorites here: a sunset, the coastline of western Australia, the Andes Mountains, and Cuba’s Gulf of Batabano. Scroll down past the video for a view of one of the raw mosaics and some video of Williams explaining what it is like to take photographs from space. Browse more astronaut photography here and find more of Williams’ photography on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. In related stories from the Earth Observatory, learn more about sunsets seen from space, the Andes, and coastal Australia.

Here is how the raw mosaic of the Gulf of Batabano looked.

And here is Williams explaining the cameras he uses and how he makes the merged panoramas.

2 Responses to “Video: Exquisite Panoramas from the International Space Station”

  1. Lee Marx says:

    Thank you for sharing your “point of view”. Amazing, this little blue rock.
    Be safe,
    lee

  2. Linda Van Horssen says:

    Wow… I’m actually emotional after feeling like I was leaning over and looking through the cuppola (sp?), “the window on the world.” Thank you for your skills and for teaching all of us about earth and beyond.

    My sincere good wishes to you and your fellow astronauts.
    Wow…