NASA
astronaut Douglas Wheelock who is currently aboard the International
Space Station......Shares pictures of the Earth through Twitter.
Known to his nearly 68,000 Twitter followers as Astro_Wheels, Wheelock
has been posting impressive photos of the Earth and some of his thoughts
ever since he moved into the space station in June, five months after
it got Internet access.

Greek islands on a clear night during our flight over Europe. Athens shines brightly along the Mediterranean Sea.

"
Mystery Island " - located in the Indian Ocean close to Madagascar.
Interesting features on the island and the unusual shape should be
enough to help you discover this beautiful place.

Northern
lights in the distance in one of the finest nights over Europe. The
photo clearly shows the Strait of Dover. Paris is dazzling with the city
lights. A little fog over the western part of England, particularly
over London.

The moon is breathtaking.
Of
all the places of our beautiful planet few can rival the beauty and
richness of colors in the Bahamas.. In this photo, our ship is seen
against the backdrop of the Bahamas.
At
a speed of 28,163 kilometres per hour (8 kilometres per second), we
rotate the Earth's orbit, making one revolution every 90 minutes, and
watch sunsets and sunrises every 45 minutes. So half of our journey is
in darkness. For the work we use lights on our helmets.
Every
time I look out the window and see our beautiful planet, my soul sings!
I see blue skies, white clouds and bright blessed days.
Another spectacular sunset. We see 16 such sunsets each day and each of them is really valuable.
Beautiful atoll in the Pacific Ocean, photographed using 400mm lens. Approximately 1930 km south of Honolulu.
Perfect reflection of sunlight showing Cyprus.
Above
the centre of the Atlantic Ocean, before another stunning sunset..
Downstairs in the setting sun visible spiral of Hurricane Earl.
A
little farther east, we saw the sacred monolith Uluru, also known as
Ayers Rock. I have never had the opportunity to visit Australia, but
someday I hope that I will stand by this miracle of nature.
Morning
over the Andes in South America. I do not know for sure the title of
this peak, but was simply amazed by her magic, wind tops, stretching to
the sun.
Over
the Sahara desert, approaching the ancient lands and thousand-year
history. River Nile flows through Egypt by the Pyramids of Giza near
Cairo. Further, the Red Sea, Sinai Peninsula, Dead Sea, Jordan River, as
well as the island of Cyprus in the Mediterranean Sea and Greece on the
horizon.
Night
view of the River Nile, stretching like a snake through Egypt to the
Mediterranean, and Cairo, located in the Delta. Far away in this
picture, one can see the Mediterranean Sea.
Our
unmanned 'Progress 39P' approaches the ISS for refuelling. It is full
of food, fuel, spare parts and all necessities for our station. Inside
was a real gift - fresh fruit and vegetables. What a miracle after three
months of food from a tube!
I
wanted to share with you this view from the Dome. We said goodbye to
the members of our group Sasha, Misha and Tracy this weekend and they
returned safely back to Earth. In this photo, Tracy quietly dreams of
returning home.
Module
Union 23C Olympus docked with the ISS. When our work ends here, we go
back home to Earth. We fly over the snow-capped peaks of the Caucasus.
The rising sun is reflected from the Caspian Sea.
The
flash of colour, movement and life on the canvas of our amazing world.
This is part of the Great Barrier Reef off the east coast of Australia,
photographed through the lens of 1200 mm.
All
the beauty of Italy, a clear winter night. You can see many beautiful
islands that adorn the coast - Capri, Sicily and Malta. Naples and Mount
Vesuvius are allocated along the coast.
At
the southern end of South America lies the pearl of Patagonia. The
amazing beauty of rugged mountains, massive glaciers, fjords and
seas combined in perfect harmony.
"Dome"
on the side of nadir station gives a panoramic view of our beautiful
planet. Fedor made the picture from the window of the Russian docking
compartment. In this photo I'm sitting in the dome, preparing the
camera for our evening flight over Hurricane Earl.
Florida
and southeastern U.S. in the evening. A clear autumn evening, the
moonlight over the water and sky, dotted with millions of stars.

Clear starry night over the eastern Mediterranean. The ancient land
with a thousand years of history stretching from Athens to Cairo.
Historical land of fabulous and alluring island. Athens - Crete - Rhodes
- Izmir - Ankara - Cyprus - Damascus - Beirut - Haifa -Amman - Tel Aviv
- Jerusalem - Cairo - all of
them turned into tiny lights in this cool November night.

In this time of year you can enjoy the beauty of the polar
mesospheric clouds. With our high-angle illumination, we were able to
capture a thin layer of noctilucent clouds at sunset.

Astronaut Douglas Wheelock

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