Astronaut Photography

Biomass Burning, Southern Africa
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Biomass Burning, Southern Africa

A smoke pall dominates this view of tropical southern Africa, one of the most fire-prone regions of the world.

Published Aug 8, 2011

Image of the Day Atmosphere Heat Land Human Presence

Massachusetts Coastline in Sunglint
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Massachusetts Coastline in Sunglint

Bathed in sunlight reflecting on the water, the Massachusetts coast and islands are the focus of this astronaut photograph.

Published Aug 1, 2011

Image of the Day Land Water

Comet Atlantis
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Comet Atlantis

Space Shuttle Atlantis streaked across the sky to its final landing at Kennedy Space Center.

Published Jul 28, 2011

Image of the Day Human Presence

Aras River, Turkey-Armenia-Iran Border Region
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Aras River, Turkey-Armenia-Iran Border Region

Taken July 8, 2011, this astronaut photograph shows the border region of Turkey, Armenia, and Iran, including the Aras River.

Published Jul 25, 2011

Image of the Day Land

Sun Rising on the Final Shuttle Mission
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Sun Rising on the Final Shuttle Mission

Astronauts supplied the International Space Station with a new logistics module; tested tools, technologies, and techniques to refuel satellites in space; and collected old equipment.

Published Jul 21, 2011

Image of the Day Human Presence Remote Sensing

Shoemaker Impact Structure, Western Australia
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Shoemaker Impact Structure, Western Australia

The Shoemaker impact site in Australia may have been formed as long as 1.63 billion years ago.

Published Jul 18, 2011

Image of the Day Land

Final Hook-Up
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Final Hook-Up

Space Shuttle Atlantis approaches the International Space Station for docking for the last time on July 10, 2011.

Published Jul 15, 2011

Image of the Day Atmosphere Water Human Presence

Sault Ste Marie, Ontario and Michigan
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Sault Ste Marie, Ontario and Michigan

The twin cities of Sault Ste Marie straddle the border of Canada and the U.S. and lie amidst the lakes and islands that separate Lake Huron and Lake Superior.

Published Jul 11, 2011

Image of the Day Land Human Presence

Southern Italian Peninsula at Night
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Southern Italian Peninsula at Night

City lights trace the outline of Italy's “boot” and the island of Sicily.

Published Jul 4, 2011

Image of the Day Land Human Presence

Okavango Swamp, Botswana
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Okavango Swamp, Botswana

Sometimes called the Jewel of the Kalahari, the area is an enormous, pristine wetland that almost miraculously appears out of a desert.

Published Jun 27, 2011

Image of the Day Land

Nabro Volcano Before Eruption
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Nabro Volcano Before Eruption

Astronauts on the International Space Station snapped this photograph of the volcano in Eritrea just months before it erupted for the first time in recorded history.

Published Jun 20, 2011

Image of the Day Land Volcanoes

Estuaries, Northwest Coast of Madagascar
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Estuaries, Northwest Coast of Madagascar

This astronaut photograph highlights two biologically productive estuaries on the coast of Madagascar.

Published Jun 13, 2011

Image of the Day Land Water

Äzmir, Turkey
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Äzmir, Turkey

Ä°zmir is Turkey’s third most populous city and its second largest port, and its history dates back at least 3,500 years.

Published Jun 6, 2011

Image of the Day Human Presence

Ar Rub’ al Khali Sand Sea, Arabian Peninsula
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Ar Rub’ al Khali Sand Sea, Arabian Peninsula

The Ar Rub’ al Khali, or Empty Quarter, covers much of the south-central portion of the Arabian Peninsula and is the largest continuous sand desert on Earth.

Published May 30, 2011

Image of the Day Land

U.S. Atlantic Seaboard at Night
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U.S. Atlantic Seaboard at Night

One of the largest conurbations in the world is located along East Coast of the United States, and stretches from Boston to Washington.

Published May 23, 2011

Image of the Day Land Human Presence

River Deltas, Lake Ayakum, Tibet
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River Deltas, Lake Ayakum, Tibet

This astronaut photograph highlights two river deltas along the southwestern shoreline of Lake Ayakum, near the northern boundary of the Tibetan Plateau.

Published May 9, 2011

Image of the Day Land

Sunset over Western South America
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Sunset over Western South America

The changeover between day and night is marked by the terminator, a line on Earth's surface separating the sunlit side from the darkness.

Published Apr 25, 2011

Image of the Day Atmosphere Land

Bassas da India in Sunglint
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Bassas da India in Sunglint

A photograph of an uninhabited atoll in the Indian Ocean has an almost surreal quality due to varying degrees of sunglint.

Published Apr 18, 2011

Image of the Day Water

One Pinnacle of Human Achievement to Another
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One Pinnacle of Human Achievement to Another

Astronauts on flight STS-1 captured this view of the Tigris and Euphrates through a viewport on the space shuttle during its first flight in April 1981.

Published Apr 13, 2011

Image of the Day Land Human Presence

Irrigation along the Shebelle River
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Irrigation along the Shebelle River

The Shebelle River has its headwaters in the Ethiopian Highlands, and transports water and sediment 1,000 kilometers to the southeast across Ethiopia and into Somalia.

Published Apr 11, 2011

Image of the Day Land

Two Low Pressure Systems, Northeastern Pacific
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Two Low Pressure Systems, Northeastern Pacific

In these astronaut photographs from the ISS cupola, two distinct cyclonic vortices whirl within an area of low pressure that spanned the Pacific coast from southern California to Vancouver Island.

Published Apr 4, 2011

Image of the Day Atmosphere

Central Tien Shan, China
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Central Tien Shan, China

This astronaut photograph provides a view of the central Tien Shan mountains east of where the borders of China, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan meet.

Published Mar 28, 2011

Image of the Day Land

Cat Island, Bahamas
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Cat Island, Bahamas

Once named San Salvador, the island may be where Christopher Columbus made his first landfall in the Americas.

Published Mar 21, 2011

Image of the Day Land Water

Tsunami Damage Viewed for the Space Station
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Tsunami Damage Viewed for the Space Station

Taken March 13, 2011, this astronaut photograph shows the Japanese coast north of the city of Sendai, in the wake of a devastating earthquake and tsunami.

Published Mar 15, 2011

Land Water Floods Human Presence Earthquakes

Milan at Night
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Milan at Night

Milan, the largest city in Italy, is one of Europe’s major transportation, industrial, and commercial hubs, and a global center of fashion and culture.

Published Mar 14, 2011

Image of the Day Land Human Presence

Médano Blanco Coastal Dunes, Argentina
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Médano Blanco Coastal Dunes, Argentina

Narrow cordons of coastal dunes stretch for hundreds of kilometers along Argentina’s coast, including the Médano Blanco dunes near the arid and windy border of Patagonia.

Published Mar 7, 2011

Image of the Day Land

Better ISS Window, Better View of Earth
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Better ISS Window, Better View of Earth

NASA recently improved the view from the space station, as displayed in this January 2011 photograph of That Choeng Shum, Thailand.

Published Mar 5, 2011

Image of the Day Land Human Presence Remote Sensing

Emi Koussi Volcano, Chad
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Emi Koussi Volcano, Chad

At 3,415 meters above sea level, the summit is the highest of Africa’s Sahara region.

Published Feb 14, 2011

Image of the Day Heat Land

Onekotan Island, Kuril Islands, Russian Federation
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Onekotan Island, Kuril Islands, Russian Federation

Snow cover highlights the calderas and volcanic cones that form the northern and southern ends of Onekotan Island, part of the Kuril Island arc.

Published Jan 24, 2011

Image of the Day Land Snow and Ice

Flooding in Brisbane Suburbs
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Flooding in Brisbane Suburbs

Acquired January 13, 2011 by astronauts aboard the ISS, this photograph shows extensive flooding in the Brisbane suburb of Rocklea.

Published Jan 18, 2011

Image of the Day Land Floods Human Presence