An astronaut's view of the Earth
An astronaut’s view of the Earth. Today’s Image of the Day from NASA Earth Observatory features an astronaut view of Earth captured from the SpaceX Crew Dragon vehicle.
The photo was taken on the last leg of the SpaceX Demo-2 mission, which was the first human spaceflight from American soil since 2011. According to NASA, the crew was looking out over east Kazakhstan on their return flight home after two months on the station.
The photograph is one of more than four million that astronauts have taken of Earth since the beginning of crewed spaceflight programs.
In 2020, NASA and its partnering agencies celebrated the 20th anniversary of continuous human presence on the International Space Station (ISS). Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. About 29% of Earth’s surface is land consisting of continents and islands. The remaining 71% is covered with water, mostly by oceans but also by lakes, rivers and other fresh water, which together constitute the hydrosphere. Much of Earth’s polar regions are covered in ice. Earth’s outer layer is divided into several rigid tectonic plates that migrate across the surface over many millions of years. Earth’s interior remains active with a solid iron inner core, a liquid outer core that generates Earth’s magnetic field, and a convecting mantle that drives plate tectonics. An astronaut’s view of the Earth
Image Credit: NASA Earth Observatory
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By Chrissy Sexton, Earth.com Staff Writer
