With much of their time committed to construction of the International Space Station, astronauts and cosmonauts are also beginning their first scientific studies. The Destiny Laboratory just joined to the International Space Station includes the best optical quality window ever flown on a human-occupied spacecraft. The window will eventually host a number of remote sensing experiments that will use a special rack system, the Window Observational Research Facility or WORF, for mechanical and electrical support (Eppler et al. 1996). Until the WORF is complete in June 2002, astronauts are photographing the Earth’s surface as part of an early project, Crew Earth Observations.
Published Feb 16, 2001
Astronaut photography of the Earth from the International Space Station has achieved resolutions close to those available from commercial remote sensing satellites—with many photographs having spatial resolutions of less than six meters. Astronauts take the photographs by hand and physically compensate for the motion of the spacecraft relative to the Earth while the images are being acquired.
Published May 6, 2002
Primarily designed to give astronauts a way to see the outside of the ISS, it also provides stunning panoramic views of Earth and space.
Published Feb 20, 2010
Sixteen operating satellites monitor Earth. Four more are scheduled to launch in 2014.
Published Jul 5, 2013
These iconic photos are not new, but their message never gets old.
Published Dec 24, 2018
From one million miles away, the DSCOVR satellite returned its first view of the entire sunlit side of Earth.
Published Jul 21, 2015
Space Shuttle Atlantis approaches the International Space Station for docking for the last time on July 10, 2011.
Published Jul 15, 2011
America's first space station was launched forty years ago. Astronauts on Skylab conducted some the first comprehensive visual studies of Earth’s surface.
Published May 14, 2013
When the DSCOVR mission was conceived in the late 1990s, one of the central ideas was to provide daily, natural-color views of the entire Earth so that everyday citizens could see it. Seventeen years later, we have that view.
Published Oct 23, 2015
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
An Earth Observatory reader used widely available software to correct the oblique perspective of an earlier photograph of Montserrat and to adjust the color. The story of how he modified the image includes step-by-step instructions that can be applied to other photographs.
Published Mar 27, 2002
This stunning photo came back to Earth with the Apollo 8 astronauts in late December 1968.
Published Nov 27, 2008
Seen from a billion kilometers away, through the ice and dust particles of Saturn’s rings, Earth appears as a tiny, bright dot.
Published Jan 16, 2007
