International Space Station

Date: 26 May 2016
From: International Space Station
Colonel Jeff Williams
To: Planet Earth

Handling a $150,000 camera in space is so much easier than on Earth. I don't have to worry about dropping it.

I love this camera. It allows me to take magnificent images of the planet we call home. 250 miles up and moving at an amazing 17,000 miles per hour, the International Space Station (ISS) circles the Earth every 92 minutes. That is an incredible palette of material passing before my windows.

As a Colonel in the U.S. Air Force, I've been fortunate. I've enjoyed the astonishing feat of human flight. I've flown in jets, took a rocket to space, and flew on the Space Shuttle but nothing matches the view from up here day in and day out. Traveling 5 miles a second is just mind boggling. I wouldn't trade anything for the experiences I've had these last two months.

So many awesome photographs have captured the images I shall cherish. The brilliant light blue reef in the Bahamas, the Red River of Madagascar pouring into the ocean, the sunrise over the North Sea, sand dunes and snow covered mountains, glaciers, reflecting solar mirrors, and even smoke billowing from a volcano. Auroras, lightning, cyclones, storms and intricate cloud formations. 3 million photos have been taken aboard the ISS so far. Every revolution offering more amazing views under different light conditions.

It feels more like a vacation than a job on the ISS. The last sixty days have gone by so quickly, as I anticipate the next nearly four months will as well. It is possible I will get to return to this wondrous place once more, but that is not guaranteed, so I will spend every waking minute giving my all and basking in 16 sunrises and sunsets every 24 hours.

I find it difficult to choose a favorite image. I guess if I had to pick one it would be the latest I posted of the Bahamian reef. The contrast of the shallow water above a white sand ocean floor creates almost a fluorescent light blue against the dark blue depths of the North Atlantic. That beautiful contrast is visible with your feet in the sand and from the heavens.

What a wonderful world we live in. We all need to remember to take better care of our precious home.

I hope you have enjoyed these photos as much as I have enjoyed taking and sharing them with you.

Best wishes,
Jeff

P.S. If you want to see the Space Station flyover, check this site: https://spotthestation.nasa.gov