Our Beautiful Planet: Images from Space by an Astronaut Photographer

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

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)

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