--- title: Space Photography: Astronaut Releases 'A View From Above' description: A new book by astronaut Terry Virts dazzles with photos taken while in orbit on the International Space Station canonical: https://time.com/4734584/terry-virts-astronaut-photography-view-from-above-nasa/ author: Jeffrey Kluger article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-04-13T22:16:54.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:58:56.259Z article:section: Science og:title: See an Astronaut's Dazzling View From Above og:description: There is no photo studio quite like space og:url: https://time.com/4734584/terry-virts-astronaut-photography-view-from-above-nasa/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7778c5e8beb21d63/6988557af887dcf151e91053/terry-virts-space-station-cupola.gif?branch=production&width=700&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 700 og:image:height: 394 og:image:alt: Space Station Cupola Astronaut Terry Virts og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: See an Astronaut's Dazzling View From Above twitter:description: There is no photo studio quite like space twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7778c5e8beb21d63/6988557af887dcf151e91053/terry-virts-space-station-cupola.gif?branch=production&width=700&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # An Astronaut's Dazzling _View From Above_ > Sponsored content. 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Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Jeffrey Kluger](https://time.com/author/jeffrey-kluger/)  ## Jeffrey Kluger Editor at Large Apr 13, 2017 10:16 PM UTC  Astronaut Terry Virts photographing Earth aboard the International Space Station Astronaut Terry Virts photographing Earth aboard the International Space Station NASA; GIF by Mia Tramz for TIME  by [Jeffrey Kluger](https://time.com/author/jeffrey-kluger/)  ## Jeffrey Kluger Editor at Large Apr 13, 2017 10:16 PM UTC It’s a very good thing for the world that Terry Virts did not smell ammonia on the morning of Jan. 14, 2015\. He did hear a warning Klaxon go off — and a Klaxon aboard the International Space Station, where he was serving as part of a six-person crew at the time, sounds just as scary off of the Earth as it does on it. He also he saw a flurry of caution and warning lights blink on, one of which bore the letters ATM, indicating toxic atmosphere—in this case, toxified by leaking ammonia coolant, or so the on-board sensors indicated. So Virts turned to a much more precise sensor—his nose—and he knew the stakes were high. “As they would tell us in training,” he said in a recent conversation with TIME, “if you smell ammonia, don’t worry for long, because you’re going to die.”  As it happened, Virts didn’t smell ammonia, but he and the other two astronauts in the American segment of the station nonetheless high-tailed it over to the Russian segment, where they use a different cooling system, slammed the hatch and camped out for 11 hours, until NASA and Roscosmos (the Russian space agency) traced the alarm to a faulty computer signal. Until the all-clear was given, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin wanted there to be no mistake about the fact that while things may be tense between Washington and the Kremlin, all such differences stop at the atmosphere’s edge. “He called up while we were there and said ‘our American colleagues, we want you to know you should stay as long as you want,'” Virts recalls. That moment of cosmic collegiality is just one of the stories recounted in Virts’ dazzling new book _View From Above._ Published by National Geographic, and including a foreword by Apollo 11 moonwalker Buzz Aldrin, the book goes on sale Oct. 3, 2017\. Virts, who flew to space twice during his NASA career for a total of 213 days off the planet, is a disarmingly thoughtful astronaut, and the stories he tells both in his book and in conversation reflect that. ### Astronaut Terry Virts: Best Space Photos  Earth observation of South America from the International Space Station on May 20, 2015\. NASA astronaut Terry Virts tweeted this image with the remark of: "Farm fields in central #Brazil #SouthAmerica". Terry Virts—NASA  This huge Desert in northern Africa is an image tweeted by NASA astronaut Terry Virts on Feb. 11, 2015 from the International Space Station. He wanted to share with his Twitter fans the enormous size of the Murzuq Desert Terry Virts—NASA  Aboard the International Space Station on Feb. 9, 2015 NASA astronaut Terry Virts while viewing through the Cupola window captured this image of the African continent. Virts tweeted the photo to his many fans with the comment: "Sun glint on one of a thousand rivers in the heart of #Africa, this one in #Angola" . Terry Virts—NASA  Twitter image from US Astronaut Terry Virts of the Red Sea in the Middle East on Feb. 09, 2015\. Terry labeled it "earth art" Terry Virts—NASA  NASA astronaut Terry Virts onboard the International Space Station tweeted this deep beige and red desert image in Africa on Apr. 16, 2015\. Terry's comments that accompanied the image were: "Beautiful colors in the northern desert of #Africa". Terry Virts—NASA  This image of the American upper Midwest and parts of Canada was captured by NASA astronaut Terry Virts on the International Space Station on May 2, 2015\. Virts made this comment with the tweet: "It's great to see the #GreatLakes with no snow"! Terry Virts—NASA  NASA astronaut Terry Virts who is the Commander of Expedition 43 on the International Space Station tweeted this Earth Observation on May 13, 2015, with this comment: "Beautiful part of #Mongolia and #Siberia." Terry Virts—NASA  NASA astronaut Terry Virts Expedition 43 Commander on the International Space Station tweeted this Earth observation image of South America with the following comment: "Salar de Uyuni in the #Bolivia desert #SouthAmerica. The world's largest salt flat". Terry Virts—NASA  The Moon shines brightly on planet Earth's horizon in this image snapped from the International Space Station May 7, 2015 by the crew of Expedition 43 led by Commander Terry Virts, NASA astronaut. Terry Virts—NASA “Exploring space is such a fundamentally human thing,” he says. “I walk down the street and people don’t know who I am, but if I put my NASA jacket on, everyone wants to talk. It’s a universal fascination.” Virts’ book, however, is more than his stories; it’s also his pictures — dozens of vivid, often dizzying images not just of the Earth from space, but of the interior and exterior of the improbable skyliner that is the space station. This isn’t the first time he has distinguished himself as a space photographer. Just a few months after the ammonia emergency, TIME ran [an online gallery](http://time.com/3928163/space-terry-virts-nasa-astronaut-photography/) of some of Virts’ other work. But with the time to think and curate and write, he has assembled a far richer gallery of what he saw and how he lived in the time he called space home. For most of us, space travel will always be done by proxy — something we experience only through the journeys of others. That’s been true since the very first time humans left the planet. 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