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Moon frame

MOON FRAME: Earth and its Moon are nicely framed in this image taken from the aft windows of the Space Shuttle Discovery in 1998. Discovery, on mission STS-95, was flying over the Atlantic Ocean at the time this image was taken.

Earth and its Moon are nicely framed in this image taken from the aft windows of the Space Shuttle Discovery in 1998. Discovery, on mission STS-95, was flying over the Atlantic Ocean at the time this image was taken.

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Image and caption courtesy of NASA Goddard Photo and Video photostream. Credit: NASA.

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This simulated natural color image shows the Coco River, between Nicaragua and Honduras, as seen from space on December 5, 2002. As it makes its way to the Caribbean Sea, the Coco River forms the border between the two countries. The coastline, known as the Mosquito Coast, is of low relief and has plentiful water bodies, relic shorelines and high temperatures. Mosquito Coast derives its name from its principal inhabitants, the Miskito Indians, whose name was corrupted into Mosquito by European settlers. The Mosquito Indians, of whom there are several tribes, are short in stature and very dark-skinned. The first European settlement in the Mosquito country started in 1630, when agents of the English-chartered Providence Company established friendly relations with the local inhabitants. The image shown covers an area of 29 x 39 kilometers (18 x 24 miles).
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This simulated natural colo...
Coco River, Nicaragua and Honduras
A space suit floats freely away from the International Space Station in a scene reminiscent of a sci-fi movie. But this time, no investigation is needed. The suit is actually the world's latest satellite and was launched on February 3, 2006. Dubbed SuitSat-1, the unneeded Russian Orlan spacesuit filled mostly with old clothes was fitted with a radio transmitter and released to orbit the Earth.
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FLOATING FREE: A space suit...
Floating free
This map shows the bright lights of cities and wildfires set against the inky black backdrop of night. The image is actually a composite of satellite data collected over a number of days in April 2012 and October 2012, and is the result of 312 orbits and 2.5 TB of information. The lights seen here are not just from cities; they are also from wildifires, lightning, gas flares and reflected moonlight. Because the image is a composite of several days’ worth of data, fires and other points of light may have been picked up by the satellite and integrated into the composite image even though they were temporary, making some rural locations (such as in Australia) seem brighter than they really are on a typical day.
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Night lights, big cities
Night lights, big cities
February 12, 1984: Mission specialist Bruce McCandless II ventures further away from the confines and safety of his ship than any previous astronaut has ever been. This space first was made possible by the Manned Manuevering Unit or MMU, a nitrogen jet-propelled backpack. After a series of test maneuvers inside and above Challenger's payload bay, McCandless went 'free-flying' to a distance of 320 feet away from the Orbiter. This stunning orbital panorama view shows McCandless out there amongst the black and blue of Earth and space.
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TO BOLDLY GO: February 12, ...
To boldly go
Some of the most breathtaking views of Earth taken from space are those that capture our planet's limb. When viewed from the side, the Earth looks like a flat circle, and the atmosphere appears like a halo around it. This edge of the atmosphere is known as the limb. Viewed from space, the image of this luminous envelope of gases shielding life on our planet from the dark, cold space beyond rarely fails to fascinate us. What makes this image even more fascinating is the added silhouette of the space shuttle Endeavour. The orange layer seen is the troposphere, where all of the weather and clouds that we typically experience are created and contained. The troposphere gives way to the whitish stratosphere and then mesosphere. This image was captured by an astronaut prior to Endeavour's rendezvous and docking with the International Space Station on February 9, 2010.
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ENDEAVOUR: Some of the most...
Endeavour
Manam Volcano in Papua New Guinea, as seen from space on June 16, 2010. Located 13 kilometers (8 miles) off the coast of mainland Papua New Guinea, Manam forms an island 10 kilometers (6 miles) wide. It is a stratovolcano. The volcano has two summit craters, and although both are active, most historical eruptions have arisen from the southern crater. On June 16, the volcano released a thin, faint plume as clouds clustered at the volcano's summit. Rivulets of brown rock interrupt the carpet of green vegetation on the volcano’s slopes. White clouds partially obscure the satellite’s view of Manam. The clouds may be the result of water vapor from the volcano, but they may also have formed independently of volcanic activity. The volcanic plume appears as a thin blue-gray veil extending toward the northwest over the Bismarck Sea.
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MANAM VOLCANO: Manam Volcan...
Manam Volcano
This image, taken in February 1984, shows the confluence of the Parana and Paraguay Rivers northeast of the town of Corrientes, in Argentina. The Parana is South America's second largest river (the Amazon being the largest), and the river and its tributaries are important transportation routes for landlocked cities in Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia and Brazil. Both the Parana and Paraguay Rivers are loaded with sediment; the Paraguay (left) contains a tan sediment and the Parana (right) contains a reddish-brown muddy sediment. As the two rivers merge in the center of the photo and begin to flow southwest, we see how their sediments remain fairly unmixed for many miles downstream. Original high-resolution image here.
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This image, taken in Februa...
Paraná River, Argentina and Paraguay
This beautiful image, taken on 11 January 2001, shows a geological formation in the Maur Adrar Desert in Mauritania, Africa. Known as the "Richat Structure," this snail-shell-like formation was created when a volcanic dome hardened and gradually eroded, exposing onion-like layers of rock.
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Geologic Delight
Geologic delight
On the edge of the Kalahari Desert in Namibia, sand dunes are encroaching onto once-fertile lands in the north. Healthy vegetation appears red in this image; in the center, notice the lone red dot. It is the result of a center-pivot irrigation system, evidence that at least one optimistic farmer continues to work the fields despite the approaching sand. This image was acquired by the Landsat 7 satellite on August 14, 2000. This is a false-color composite image made using near infrared, red and green wavelengths. The image has also been sharpened using the sensor's panchromatic band.
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"The Optimist," Kalahari De...
'The Optimist,' Kalahari Desert, Namibia
The tongue of the Malaspina Glacier, the largest glacier in Alaska, fills most of this image. The Malaspina lies west of Yakutat Bay and covers 1,500 square miles (about 3,880 square kilometers). Image taken by Landsat 7 on August 31, 2000.
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ALASKAN SHIMMERThe tongue o...
Alaskan shimmer
Dagze Co (Lake) is one of many inland lakes in Tibet. In glacial times, the region was considerably wetter, and lakes were correspondingly much larger. This is evident by the numerous fossil shorelines that circle the lake, and attest to the presence of a larger, deeper lake. Changes in climate have resulted in greater aridity of the Tibetan Plateau, and drying up of the lakes. Image taken by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on October 8, 2001.
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TIBETAN DEPTHS: Dagze Co (L...
Tibetan depths
The United States' first spacewalk, made by Ed White on June 3, 1965 during the Gemini 4 mission. On the third orbit, White opened his hatch and used a hand-held manuevering oxygen-jet gun to push himself out of the capsule. After the first three minutes the fuel ran out and White manuevered by twisting his body and pulling on the tether. His extra-vehicular activity started over the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii and lasted 23 minutes, ending over the Gulf of Mexico. The photograph was taken by commander James McDivitt.
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The United States' first sp...
Space odyssey
The Mackenzie River in Canada plays a major role in Arctic climate as warmer fresh water mixes with cold seawater.  This image was taken by the Operational Land Imager on the Landsat 8 satellite on July 18, 2017.
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The Mackenzie River in Cana...
Mackenzie River
This stunning image of the northwest corner of Australia was snapped by a student on Earth after remotely controlling the Sally Ride EarthKAM aboard the International Space Station.
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Northwest Australia from th...
Northwest Australia from the Space Station
This stunning image, taken on July 27, 2000, shows the Lena River in Russia, one of the largest rivers in the world, which is some 2,800 miles (4,400 kilometers) long. The Lena Delta Reserve is the most extensive protected wilderness area in Russia. It is animportant refuge and breeding ground for many species of Siberian wildlife. Original high-resolution image here.
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This stunning image, taken ...
Lena Delta, Russia
This photo, taken on 30 December 2010, shows the aft section of the International Space Station (ISS). It was taken by an Expedition 26 crew member from a window in the ISS Progress 40 supply vehicle docked to the Pirs Docking Compartment.
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Aft view of Earth
Aft view of Earth
The Ganges River forms an extensive delta where it empties into the Bay of Bengal. The delta, largely covered with a swamp forest, is home to most of Bangladesh, one of the world’s most densely populated countries and a nation that is particularly vulnerable to climate change. As the climate changes, low-lying Bangladesh will increasingly face issues such as food insecurity, sea level rise and more frequent and intense extreme weather events. About 120 million people live on the Ganges Delta under the threat of repeated catastrophic floods due to heavy runoff of meltwater from the Himalayas and due to the intense rainfall during the monsoon season.  This image was acquired by the Landsat 7 satellite on February 28, 2000. It is a false-color composite image made using green, infrared, and blue wavelengths.
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Ganges River Delta
Ganges River Delta
This image, showing tidal flats and channels on Long Island, in the Bahamas, was taken by an Expedition 26 crew member onboard the International Space Station. The islands of the Bahamas in the Caribbean Sea are situated on large platforms made mainly from carbonate sediments ringed by fringing reefs — the islands themselves are only the parts of the platform currently exposed above sea level. The sediments are formed mostly from the skeletal remains of organisms settling to the sea floor; over geologic time, these sediments will consolidate to form carbonate sedimentary rocks such as limestone. Darker blue shows deeper water, while light blue-green shows shallow water on the tidal flat. The continually exposed parts of the island are seen in brown, a result of soil formation and vegetation growth (left).
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This image, showing tidal f...
Long Island, Bahamas
Bombetoka Bay in northwestern Madagascar is an inlet of Mozambique Channel, and is at the mouth of the Betsiboka River. Just downstream is the second largest port of Madagascar, the town of Mahajanga, a road terminus and trade center that exports sugar, coffee, spices, cassava, vegetable oils, timber and vanilla. The surrounding area abounds in extensive coffee plantations. Simulated natural color image taken by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on August 23, 2000.
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BOMBETOKA BAY: Bombetoka Ba...
Bombetoka Bay
The first television picture of Earth from space. Image taken by TIROS 1 on April 1, 1960.
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TV DEBUT: The first televis...
TV debut
With autumn's arrival, chlorophyll begins to cede its dominance in the photosynthetic process, revealing yellow and orange tones on land, while in the ocean and lakes, phytoplankton pigments highlight different water masses and current systems.
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Changing colors across land...
Photosynthetic pigments by land and sea
This spectacular 'blue marble' image is the most detailed true-color image of the entire Earth to date. Using a collection of satellite-based observations, scientists and visualizers stitched together months of observations of the land surface, oceans, sea ice, and clouds into a seamless, true-color mosaic of every square kilometer (0.4 square miles) of our planet. Much of the information contained in this image came from NASA’s Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) onboard the Terra satellite. Visualization date: August 2, 2002.
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BLUE MARBLE: This spectacul...
Blue marble
Captured onboard a NASA Operation IceBridge flight to survey glacier change in a warming world, this photograph shows a beach and stream in Russel Fjord, Alaska, near the terminus of Hubbard Glacier.
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Beached bergs in Alaska
Beached bergs in Alaska
Vivid colors and bizarre shapes come together in this artistic, fantastical image, taken from space on June 15, 2005. The labyrinth of exotic features was spotted along the edge of Russia's Chaunskaya Bay (shown by the vivid blue half circle) in northeastern Siberia. Two major rivers, the Chaun and Palyavaam, flow into the bay, which in turn opens into the Arctic Ocean. Ribbon lakes and bogs are present throughout the area, created by depressions left by receding glaciers.
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Vivid colors and bizarre sh...
Siberian ribbons
The Sierra de Velasco Mountains dominate this image in northern Argentina. The Catamarca province is in the northern part of the image, and the La Rioja province is to the south. The streams are fed by runoff from the snow in the Andes Mountains to the north. These intermittent streams can dry up rapidly. The larger urban area near the bottom of the image is La Rioja, the capital of the province of La Rioja. This image was acquired by the Landsat 5 satellite on February 28, 1985.
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Argentina
Argentina

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