Seeing our planet from orbit is, by all accounts, a truly remarkable experience. There’s even a phenomenon called the overview effect in which seeing the Earth from space can result in a profound change in how a person sees the world and their place in it. Those of us who are stuck on the ground can get a small glimpse of what that experience might be like from the photographs taken by astronauts or by instruments that show incredible views of our planet from high above. The Picturing Earth series from the Earth Science and Remote Sensing (ESRS) unit at NASA’s Johnson Space Center has cataloged many of the images taken of Earth from above and has now shared some favorite images selected by team members and an astronaut who served on the International Space Station (ISS). Jeff Williams was a member of the International Space Station’s Expedition 13 in 2006, and while in orbit he noticed the Cleveland Volcano on Chuginadak Island in Alaska erupting and spewing out a plume of … [Read more...] about Here are an astronaut’s favorite photos of Earth taken from space