europeanspaceagency's photostream  

Central Holland, 27 January 2012, as captured by ESA astronaut Andre Kuipers onboard the ISS.

Andre Kuipers travelled to the space station in December 2011, and will be onboard for five months for ESA's long duration mission, PromISSe. Whilst there, he has been taking some stunning shots of our planet.

For further information, and more excellent photographs, please visit: www.esa.int/SPECIALS/PromISSe/index.html

Credits: ESA/NASA

This Envisat image, acquired on 5 December 2011 by the MERIS instrument, shows part of central Morocco from the Atlantic Ocean to the west, over the Atlas mountains and into arid parts of Algeria further inland. The snow-capped High Atlas mountain range divides Morocco from the Sahara desert’s climatic influences in Algeria. The Sahara is constantly expanding southward, rendering large areas of land barren. One of the many benefits of Earth observation satellites is the possibility to monitor changes like desertification, or the degradation of land, caused by human activities or climate change.

Credits: ESA

After a significant coronal mass ejection (CME) from the sun on 23 January 2012, a fantastic light-show took place in our upper atmosphere. This is how Andre Kuipers saw this incredible sight from the ISS.

Andre Kuipers is onboard the ISS as part of ESA's long duration PromISSe mission. For further information and more great images, please visit: www.esa.int/SPECIALS/PromISSe/index.html

Credits: ESA/NASA

The curving sands in central northern Iran’s salt desert, Dasht-e Kavir, can be seen in this image from the Ikonos-2 satellite. Here, clays and sand soils have a high surface salt content owing to the concentration of minerals from high summer evaporation. Iran is one of the world’s most important mineral producers. Earth-observing satellites are useful for finding and monitoring natural resources like minerals.

ESA supports Ikonos-2 as a Third Party Mission, which means that the Agency uses its multi-mission European ground infrastructure and expertise to acquire, process and distribute data from the satellite to its wide scientific user community.

For further information, and a higher resolution version of this image, please visit: www.esa.int/esaEO/SEMLFANXDXG_index_0.html

Credits: European Space Imaging (EUSI)

Another stunning shot from Andre Kuipers onbard the ISS, the Alps. A fascinating view from space of this mountainous region.

For further information on Andre's mission, please visit: www.esa.int/SPECIALS/PromISSe/index.html

Credits: ESA/NASA