An astronaut's awe-inspiring views from life in space
Longtime NASA astronaut Don Pettit, who has ventured to space four times, is due to return to Earth soon from the International Space Station.
Pettit will turn 70 on Sunday (Monday in Australia).
The scientist invented the first object patented in space — called the Capillary Beverage, Space Cup or Zero-G cup, which makes it easier to drink beverages in the absence of gravity, and he is also a celebrated astrophotographer known for capturing unique views of the cosmos.
See his photos here.
This January 13 photo from Pettit depicts an array of celestial sights, including the Milky Way, zodiacal light, orbiting Starlink satellites and stars that resemble pinpoints of light.
The burnt umber band showcases airglow – light from Earth's upper atmosphere – and Earth's atmosphere is seen on edge.
The sun is also about to rise, and city lights from Earth appear as streaks.
In October, Pettit and NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick were stunned to see that the space station was flying through auroras.
"We were not flying above the aurora; we were flying in the aurora," Pettit posted on Instagram.
"And it was blood red. Caught off guard, we hastily set up our cameras, four of them, all snapping shutters as fast as they could, creating a syncopated rhythm that accented Nature's artistic display presented before us."
Here, Pettit captures a perspective from the International Space Station as the orbiting laboratory flew through auroras on October 11.
Space doesn't just appear dark to astronauts aboard the space station.
They can also see stars, Pettit said.
"I flew a homemade tracking device that allows time exposures required to photograph star fields," Pettit said in a post on Instagram
Pettit's 30-second exposure image showcases an unexplained green cast over the Pacific Ocean.
An illustration depicts a Hycean world, or an exoplanet with a liquid water ocean beneath a hydrogen-rich atmosphere, orbiting a red dwarf star.
A frame from a time-lapse video by Pettit shows thrusters firing on a SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft after it undocked and backed away from the station's forward port on the Harmony module.
The orbital laboratory was soaring 416 kilometres above the Pacific Ocean west of Hawaii at the time.
The Milky Way appears beyond Earth's horizon on February 3.
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