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ISS photo links

Quick links to some of my favorite ISS photos from the NASA galleries. I have restricted these to photos of the Station taken from the Shuttle, views of Earth’s atmosphere taken by various ISS crews (but not Earth observation photos), and photos taken during Russian spacewalks (wearing Orlan-M spacesuits). The photos are ones I found particularly beautiful or unusual.

The links lead to NASA photo pages, where you can download low- or high-resolution versions. (There do not seem to be any inflight ISS photos stored on any of the Russian websites; e.g. Energiya.)

From the ISS

  • ISS002-E-5413: striking view of one of Zvezda’s solar arrays, its fiberglass panels illuminated gold by the sun setting on the Earth’s horizon.
  • ISS006-E-05064: a rare view of a solar eclipse; the dark spot on the horizon is that of the Moon casting a shadow as it eclipses the sun.
  • ISS006-E-32103: on Earth’s night side the Milky Way come out in all its glory, and here the ISS is dimly illuminated as it sails through a starry ocean.
  • ISS007-E-10807: “This view of Earth’s horizon as the sunsets over the Pacific Ocean was taken by an Expedition 7 crewmember onboard the International Space Station (ISS). Anvil tops of thunderclouds are also visible.”
  • ISS007-E-13858: above a glowing blue horizon, Progress M-47 departs the ISS to burn up in Earth’s atmosphere.
  • ISS007-E-13860: another photo of Progress M-47, this one nicely symmetrical.
  • ISS007-E-14887: looking into the deceptively calm eye of Hurricane Isabel.
  • ISS007-E-17736: Soyuz TMA-3 approaches the ISS over the vast brown expanse of Russia.
  • ISS009-E-17038: the silhouette of Progress M-49, the 14th to leave the ISS, is just visible against the bright Earth.
  • ISS009-E-22187: here, it looks as though you could go sliding down Zarya’s solar panel and into the eye of Hurricane Ivan far below!
  • ISS010-E-19144, 19147: Progress M-52 approaches.
  • ISS011-E-12415: “Aurora Borealis and city lights in Scandanavia are featured in this digital still picture taken by the Expedition 11 crew aboard the International Space Station. The Station was over a point on Earth located at 50.6 degrees north latitude and 15.1 degrees east longitude at the time. The cluster of stars to the lower right of the thin crescent Moon is the Praesepe or Beehive Cluster in Cancer. Just to the right of that is the planet Saturn.”
  • ISS011-E-14107: Soyuz TMA-7 approaches the ISS.
  • ISS011-E-14111: Soyuz TMA-7 approaches the ISS.
  • ISS012-E-21787: Earth’s horizon.
  • ISS013-E-05864, 05867, 05871, 05884: a series of photos showing the spectacular view out of one of Zvezda’s windows (perhaps one of the cabins, каюты). The module’s solar panels are visible.
  • ISS013-E-08139: sunset from orbit.
  • ISS013-E-10099: Progress M-56 approaches.
  • ISS013-E-69634, 69635: Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights).
  • ISS013-E-77965: sunset over Earth.
  • ISS013-E-78960: sunrise over Earth.
  • ISS013-E-82934: Soyuz TMA-9 approaches.
  • ISS014-E-13296: view of the Russian segment from the P6 aft radiator.
  • ISS014-E-19058: Soyuz TMA-10 approaches.
  • ISS015-E-10462, 10464, 10468, 10469, 10471: sunset through Earth’s atmosphere.

From the Space Shuttle

  • STS102-E-5345: the ISS illuminated from beneath by a glowing Earth, like some otherworldly artifact.
  • STS104-723-014: a particularly striking view of the ISS passing over the Persian Gulf.
  • STS105-707-022: the blue panels of the Russian segment solar arrays glitter in the sunlight like a dragonfly’s wings.
  • STS108-301-014: the ISS soars over the tropical blue-green ocean off Miami in Florida.
  • STS108-377-023: one of my very favorite ISS photos, with particularly nice colors, especially the electric-blue of the Earth’s atmosphere at the horizon. The ISS sails towards night.
  • STS110-717-067: attractive full view of the ISS, its large solar arrays reflecting the white clouds of the Earth below.
  • STS110-730-079: a striking image of the ISS lit up from behind, its huge solar panels glowing like red embers.
  • STS110-E-5962: another closer view of the rear-lit ISS.
  • STS110-E-6019: a rear view of the ISS, showing the Russian segment.
  • STS112-E-05823: another rear view of the ISS.
  • STS113-E-05433: upside-down ISS, showing the newly-installed P1 truss.
  • STS113-336-015: Backlit view of the ISS over north-western Australia, the sun reflected in the ocean.
  • S114-E-7218: the ISS photographed after undocking, over a blue-green lake or sea.
  • S114-E-7246: the ISS backdropped by the Earth’s horizon, the Russian segment closest to the camera.
  • S121-E-05352: nice backlit view of two docked Progress cargo ships (M-57 closest to camera; M-56 behind it). Soyuz TMA-8 is just out of view at the bottom of the photo.
  • S121-E-07571, 07573, 07577, 07596: looking back at the ISS as STS-121 departs.
  • S115-E-06767: backlit view of the ISS with its newly added P3/P4 Truss section.
  • S116-E-06753, 06757, 06794: Soyuz TMA-9 (foreground) and Progress M-57 docked to the ISS.

Floating Moon

The Moon is always an attractive photography target, and there are a few beautiful images taken by the crews from orbit.

  • ISS005-E-15356: a silvery full Moon makes an attractive contrast with the electric-blue atmosphere of Earth.
  • ISS007-E-05379: “The moon seems to be floating inside Earth’s atmosphere as it was photographed by an Expedition 7 crewmember onboard the International Space Station (ISS) while above Russia. It’s an illusion, of course. The moon is really a quarter of a million miles away. The picture is tricky because of its uneven lighting. The sun’s elevation angle is only 6 degrees. On the left side of the image, night is falling; on the right side, it’s still broad daylight. This gradient of sunlight is the key to the illusion.”
  • ISS007-E-10974: “…this image shows the limb of the Earth at the bottom transitioning into the orange-colored troposphere, the lowest and most dense portion of the Earth’s atmosphere. The troposphere ends abruptly at the tropopause, which appears in the image as the sharp boundary between the orange- and blue-colored atmosphere. The silvery-blue noctilucent clouds extend far above the Earth’s troposphere. The sliver of the setting moon is visible at upper right.”
  • ISS007-E-12046: a ghostly Moon seems about to vanish into the atmosphere. In some photos, like this one, it appears brownish in color, while in others it is silver; perhaps due to the angle of sunlight?
  • ISS010-E-18585: full Moon photo by Expedition 10.
  • ISS011-E-10509: a brownish half-Moon floats above the eye of Hurricane Emily.
  • ISS012-E-19241, 19244, 19245, 19253: photos of the full Moon above Earth’s luminous blue atmosphere.
  • ISS013-E-67655, 67657, 68671: crescent Moon, brownish in color.
  • ISS013-E-69633: crescent Moon and bright airglow.
  • ISS014-E-08933, 08936, 08940, 08948: atmospheric Moon shots.

Russian spacewalks

Photos taken outside during spacewalks wearing the Orlan spacesuits (VKD: Russian acronym for EVA).

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