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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, and views of Earth’s atmosphere taken by various ISS crews (but not Earth observation photos). 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

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
  • S119-E-010027, S119-E-010500: The ISS with all four solar arrays illuminated gold
  • S127-E-011301: backlit ISS
  • S130-E-006555, 006558, 006569, 006570, 006574, 006575: backlit ISS
  • ISS028-E-018039: final view of STS-135 Atlantis from the ISS as it departs for the last time
  • S135-E-010788: last-ever view of the ISS taken from a Space Shuttle, STS-135

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
  • ISS016-E-008867: gibbous Moon
  • ISS020-E-038138, ISS020-E-038139: full Moon over the horizon
  • ISS024-E-013421: A setting last quarter crescent moon and the thin line of Earth’s atmosphere
  • ISS024-E-013819: A last quarter crescent moon above Earth’s horizon

ISS flyaround

Expedition 27 crew member Paolo Nespoli took photos of STS-134 Endeavour docked to the ISS from Soyuz TMA-20 during a specially-scheduled flyaround; the first such photos from orbit. NASA galleries: 1, 2 (page 40 onward), and a video.

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