NASA news: Astronauts share breathtaking views of the Earth from 250 miles up in space – Express.co.uk
NASA astronauts orbiting the Earth inside of the International Space Station (ISS) have shared incredible pictures of our home planet.
NASA astronauts Nick Hague, Christina Koch and Drew Morgan currently represent America on the International Space Station (ISS). The astronauts all live and work in low-Earth orbit, about 250 miles (402km) up in space and hurtle around Earth at about 17,000mph. The ISS is an orbital laboratory designed to carry out experiments that would otherwise be impossible to replicate on Earth. But the space station also happens to be the best possible vantage point, from which astronauts can photograph our planet.
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On Wednesday, August 14, Mr Hague snapped a view of the Moon slowly creeping up over the curve of the planet.
The astronaut shared the photo on Twitter, captioning it with a line from the nursery rhyme I See the Moon.
Mr Hague tweeted: “‘I see the Moon and the Moon sees me’. Watching the Moonrise from the Earth, I am reminded of the song sung to babies for generations, and I think of the generations to come that will call the Moon home. #Artemis.”
A day later, Mrs Koch shared pictures of a glowing aurora over Antarctica.
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NASA news: Astronauts taking pictures of Earth from the ISS (Image: CHRISTINA KOCH/NICK HAGUE)
NASA news: Christina Koch’s photo of the Earth, Soyuz and Dragon spacecraft (Image: CHRISTINA KOCH)
Auroras are the result of charged particles from the Sun exciting atoms of oxygen and nitrogen in our atmosphere.
The excitement produces billowing streams of colourful light around the north pole – the Aurora Borealis – and the south pole – Aurora Australis.
The astronaut’s photo also shows a Russian Soyuz probe and SpaceX Dragon capsule docked to the ISS.
Both spacecraft serve as cargo delivery services for the Russian and US segments of the space station respectively.
READ MORE: See the best pictures of Earth from 250 miles up in space
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Mrs Koch tweeted: “Night lights from the @Space_Station. Aurora glow over Antarctica, moonshine on the solar arrays, sunrise starting in the East, outside lighting on Dragon and Soyuz, and in the window, a random reflection of the little night light we keep on inside.”
I think of the generations to come that will call the Moon home
On Tuesday, August 13, the astronaut also shared pictures of herself taking snapshots from the space station’s Cupola module.
The Cupola is a 180-degree observation deck attached to the bottom of the ISS but, of course, in a microgravity environment directions are meaningless.
The Cupola offers a breathtaking view of the planet and is an astronaut-favourite on the ISS.
READ MORE: NASA astronaut snaps INCREDIBLE photos of Earth from the ISS
NASA news: Astronaut Nick Hague snapped this view of the Moon above Earth (Image: NICK HAGUE)
NASA news: Astronaut Christina Koch in the space station’s Cupola module (Image: CHRISTINA KOCH)
Mrs Koch tweeted: “My favourite way to spend free time on @Space_Station is looking out the cupola window, admiring and capturing the beauty of our home.”
The NASA astronauts together with Commander Alexey Ovchinin, Alexander Skvortsov and Luca Parmitano, represent the crew of ISS Expedition 60/61.
ISS Expedition 60 began on June 24 this year and is scheduled to wrap up on October 3, 2019.
NASA said: “This expedition will include research investigations focused on biology, Earth science, human research, physical sciences and technology development, providing the foundation for continuing human spaceflight beyond low-Earth orbit to the Moon and Mars.“
