Crew Dragon astronaut takes stunning photos of Earth aboard the ISS

Since May 31, astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken have been stationed at International Space Station (ISS), in a joint mission between the SpaceX and NASA, and among the various activities that both have to perform at the station, one of them stands out because it looks like any tourist on vacation: taking pictures.

But, instead of taking pictures of tourist places or local monuments, as a good astronaut Hurley has taken several pictures of the privileged and impressive view he has of planet Earth. Therefore, we selected some of the earth pictures most impressive images that the astronaut took during his stay on the ISS, and that help us understand the beauty of our planet.

The best photos on Earth

One of the photos that clearly has a lot of meaning for the astronaut is one he took of the Great Lakes region, which is in the upstate region of New York (USA). This photo has a special meaning because it was in this region that Hurley was born and lived throughout his childhood.

Another interesting photo taken by the astronaut is of the Los Angeles Basin, which is in the southern region of the state of California (USA). It is in this region that the factory of SpaceX, where the Crew Dragon spacecraft that took the astronaut to the ISS was built. In the photo you can also see the islands of Santa Catalina and São Clemente, which are close to the coast of Los Angeles.

Still talking about islands, Hurley also took a picture of the Bahamas, a place considered to be one of the most beautiful in the world and which, as we can see, retains all its grandeur even from space.

Another impressive photo was taken by the astronaut from inside the Cupola (an observatory that exists inside the International Space Station) and which captures the moment when the ISS begins to leave a part of the planet that is during daylight and move to the hemisphere where it is night, creating a beautiful image where we can see this transition well.

The photo below shows a sandstorm that affects three countries in the Middle East at the same time (Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia), and it is impressive how the storm’s strength is such that it becomes possible to see the movement of sand. even in space.

The importance of Crew Dragon

Doug Hurley was one of the two astronauts who went down in history on May 30, when the Crew Dragon spacecraft, developed by SpaceX, managed to successfully take off from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center, located in the state of Florida (USA). 

The launch was a historic event for two reasons: because it was the first manned space flight by a private company, and because it is a return to launching missions with astronauts from the United States, since since 2011 the NASA depended on Russian spacecraft to take its astronauts into space.

The success of this trip could also increase the amount of public/private partnerships for space exploration. Just this year, the NASA already closed a contract with Virgin Galactic for the coordination of a space tourism scheme, in addition to confirming that Tom Cruise will be the first Hollywood star to shoot a movie in space — and everything indicates that this type of partnership between NASA and the private sector is expected to increase even more in the coming years.

Source: Doug Hurley's Twitter Profile