Our Beautiful Planet: Images from Space by an Astronaut Photographer

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European Space Agency Astronaut Paolo Nespoli — who first traveled to space aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery in 2007 — photographed a unique and stunning image of the space shuttle Endeavour docked with the International Space Station on a recent Soyuz mission.

During a 159-day mission aboard the International Space Station, Nespoli managed to find time, despite his full schedule of duties, to capture footage for a documentary film, First Orbit. Combining historic voice recordings of cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin’s first manned spaceflight, the documentary charts the view that Gagarin saw during his historic mission.

In addition to this footage, Nespoli also took many still images of Earth. LightBox presents a selection of these photos that show our planet as a beautiful abstract canvas.

(PHOTOS: Mission to Saturn: Beauty from the Final Frontier)

Volcano, Onekotan Island, Russia. May 23, 2011ESA/NASA
Delta, May 23, 2011ESA/NASA
Northern Canada, January 11, 2011.ESA/NASA
Saudi Arabia, southern desert, Mar 31, 2011ESA/NASA
Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA. May 17, 2011ESA/NASA
Hills, May 23, 2011ESA/NASA
King Sound coastline, Western Australia, May 9, 2011ESA/NASA
Kimberley coastline, Western Australia, Apr 14, 2011ESA/NASA
Blue ocean, Jan 27, 2011ESA/NASA
Blue ocean, Jan 27, 2011ESA/NASA
Middleton Reef, near Lord Howe Island, Tasman Sea, Apr 25, 2011ESA/NASA
View of partially frozen lake on China's Tibetan plateau, Feb 11, 2011ESA/NASA
Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia, Mar 2, 2011ESA/NASA
Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia, Mar 2, 2011ESA/NASA
Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia, Mar 2, 2011ESA/NASA
Licancabur and Juriques with Laguna Verde, Mar 15, 2011ESA/NASA
Lake Gairdner, Australia, May 5, 2011ESA/NASA
Lake Gairdner, Australia, May 5, 2011ESA/NASA
Lake Gairdner, Australia, May 5, 2011ESA/NASA
Rio Paraná, Argentina, Apr 15, 2011ESA/NASA
Desert, Somalia, January 30, 2011ESA/NASA
Bahia Anegada, Argentina, Bahia Anegada, Argentina, February 14, 2011ESA/NASA
Bahia Anegada, Argentina, Bahia Anegada, Argentina, February 14, 2011ESA/NASA
Emi Koussi caldera, Chad, May 16, 2011ESA/NASA
India, near Kanpur, Apr 7, 2011ESA/NASA
China, western region, Apr 28, 2011ESA/NASA
Western Australia, near Lake Willis, Apr 22, 2011ESA/NASA
Water canals, May 23, 2011ESA/NASA
Chuquicamata copper mine, Chile, February 14, 2011ESA/NASA
Fars Region, Iran, January 17, 2011ESA/NASA
Rivers of sand on border between Libya, Egypt and Sudan, Apr 25, 2011ESA/NASA
Can you guess what this is? Apr 30, 2011ESA/NASA

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