Astronaut’s Stunning Shots from International Space Station

Remember Paolo Nespoli? He's the European Space Agency astronaut who captured that epic shot of the International Space Station and Space Shuttle Endeavour.Outside of that shot, during his 159-day mission aboard the International Space Station, the 54-year-old Italian astronaut took photos of earth and then uploaded them to the web in real-time from space! “It is amazing,” he has said, “because I find constantly something new. As the station is moving very fast, the view is changing all the time and the lighting conditions, season, position of the sun and the whole situation is never the same.” Of course, this has to all fit in between his regular schedule. As a flight engineer, Nespoli is responsible for conducting experiments, working with robotics, and helping cargo vessels dock with the station.

We've all seen aerial photography before (see here, here and here), but never such incredible ones like this from the International Space Station!

Above: Vesuvio, Italia, May 17, 2011

Delta, May 23, 2011

Water Canals, May 23, 2011

Volcano on Onekotan Island, Russia, May 17, 2011

Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA, May 17, 2011

Lake Powell, Utah, USA, May 15, 2011

Lake Gairdner, Australia, May 5, 2011

Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia, Mar 2, 2011

Cairo, Egypt, May 2, 2011

Rivers of Sand on Border between Libya, Egypt and Sudan, Apr 25, 2011

Rewari, India, April 25, 2011

Beijing, China, April 19, 2011

Rio Paran, Argentina, Apr 15, 2011

Lake Cadibarrawirracanna, South Australia, April 12, 2011

The Nile, Sudan, April 8, 2011

India, near Kanpur, Apr 7, 2011

Chalki and Alimia, Greece, March 30, 2011

Chuquicamata Copper Mine, Chile, February 14, 2011

Desert, Somalia, January 30, 2011

Fars Region, Iran, January 17, 2011

Paolo Nespoli's Flickr

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