Commander Chris Hadfield is taking social media to new heights -- literally. The Canadian astronaut has been tweeting breathtaking photos of Earth all week since he and two others (NASA's Tom Marshburn and Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko) arrived at the International Space Station last Friday. So far, his pictures capture the devastating Australian wildfires, sprawling cities and the glowing atmosphere, as well as daily astronaut life.
Here are a collection of those pictures. This one is from an unidentified location:
"Volcanoes look dramatic at dawn," Hadfield tweeted on his handle, @Cmdr_Hadfield. "They startled me when I spotted them."
"Key West, Florida. A fun place to rent a bike and see for yourself." -- @Cmdr_Hadfield
"Astronaut's Breakfast - corn flakes, juice and coffee. Flakes in a bag with powdered milk, coffee through a straw." -- @Cmdr_Hadfield
"Our atmosphere has distinct layers; the troposphere and stratosphere are easily visible from orbit." -- @Cmdr_Hadfield
"Striking image of the bushfires in Australia. Streamers of smoke are visible all across the country." -- @Cmdr_Hadfield
"Another of the Australian bushfires, this one near Burrinjuck Dam. Look closely and you can see the flames from orbit." -- @Cmdr_Hadfield
"Glacier tongues in the Himalayas." -- @Cmdr_Hadfield
"Thunderstorm from above. What animal to you see?" -- @Cmdr_Hadfield
"With the lockout finally ending and a 50-game NHL season about to begin, I am ready to cheer from orbit. Go Leafs!" -- @Cmdr_Hadfield
"An island made for running laps. Off the coast of Indonesia." --@Cmdr_Hadfield
"Space Plumber - annual overhaul of the urine hoses, valves and sensors. After I was done, it worked!" -- @Cmdr_Hadfield
"The Earth is a spinning kaleidoscope. Where in the world do you think this is?" -- @Cmdr_Hadfield
"Southeastern Ontario in the sunglint, from Huron to Erie, from Sarnia to Windsor." -- @Cmdr_Hadfield
"Here is a closer view of Qingdao (Tsingtao). Much easier to see the bridge in this photo." -- @Cmdr_Hadfield
"Weightless Medical Lab - Blood samples are then frozen and brought to ground in the Dragon spaceship." -- @Cmdr_Hadfield
"Humans need straight lines, nature doesn't. Indecisive river and orderly farmers, central Asia." -- @Cmdr_Hadfield
"Sydney, Nova Scotia, on a clear winter's day - 9 Jan 13." -- @Cmdr_Hadfield