What The Space Station Can See

Jen DiMascio December 31, 2014
In a Dec. 13 photo, the Sun rises and sets in the Indian Ocean west of Australia.
Credit: NASA / Windows on Earth
Clouds swirl above the South Pacific on Dec. 14.
Credit: NASA / Windows on Earth
The ISS cruises over the snowy ridges of the Himalayas on Dec. 16.
Credit: NASA / Windows on Earth
The ISS is visible in this Dec. 16 shot of the Atlantic Ocean west of Bermuda.
Credit: NASA / Windows on Earth
A bird’s eye view of Brazil’s Baia de Marajo, one of the largest fluvial islands, which is at the mouth of the Amazon River.
Credit: NASA / Windows on Earth
The ISS travels over northwestern Australia in this Dec. 20 image.
Credit: NASA / Windows on Earth
China’s sprawling capital city Beijing, shown here on Dec. 21, is one of the world’s most populous cities.
Credit: NASA / Windows on Earth
The brightly lit center of Saudi Arabia’s capital city Riyadh is surrounded by relative darkness.
Credit: NASA / Windows on Earth
The astronauts peer through clouds upon Egypt.
Credit: NASA / Windows on Earth
The curvature of the Earth can be seen in this photo taken above northeastern Canada on Dec. 17.
Credit: NASA / Windows on Earth
The space station captures a shot of the sky over Italy on Dec. 19. Italy’s first female astronaut, Samantha Cristoforetti, spent her first Christmas aboard the ISS this year.
Credit: NASA / Windows on Earth

As the International Space Station cruises around the globe, astronauts on board are taking photographs of the Earth below. Those photographs are available for public view at the website windowsonearth.org. Windows on Earth is an educational project operated by the science and math education nonprofit group TERC along with the Association of Space Explorers, the Virtual High School and the Center for Advancement of Science in Space. NASA’s Crew Earth Observation Program provides technical support. Here is a sample of how our planet looks from space in the final month of 2014.

Jen DiMascio

Based in Washington, Jen previously managed Aviation Week’s worldwide defense, space and security coverage.