NASA astronaut Terry Virts, currently aboard the International Space Station as part of the Expedition 43 crew, is proving himself to be one of the station’s most adept photographers yet.
Since docking with the station in late November aboard Soyuz 41, Virts has taken some of the most incredible photos and videos of Earth yet from the station’s 220 mile-high orbit above the planet.
Earth pic.twitter.com/DUmAp1tFB3
— Terry W. Virts (@AstroTerry) April 2, 2015
Cloudscapes and storms on the horizon. They are stunning to see through a zoom lens. pic.twitter.com/TjDP360YPn
— Terry W. Virts (@AstroTerry) April 2, 2015
What do you think these clouds look like, lily pads? pic.twitter.com/tDqGWgFuPx
— Terry W. Virts (@AstroTerry) March 30, 2015
On Wednesday Virts started shooting some stunning — and scary — photos of Super Typhoon Maysak, currently approaching the northern Philippines. As of Friday, the storm’s strength is the equivalent of a Category 2 hurricane with winds of 100 m.p.h. — down from Category 5 strength, and winds of 160 m.p.h., earlier this week.
The eye of #Maysak typhoon really stands out early in the morning with the shadow being cast deep into the vortex pic.twitter.com/SodkijMt7O
— Terry W. Virts (@AstroTerry) April 1, 2015
More views of the eye- this was about 12 hours ago at sunrise, local time. Unbelievable. #Maysak pic.twitter.com/9Z6obnSVjh
— Terry W. Virts (@AstroTerry) April 1, 2015
Looking down into the eye – by far the widest one I’ve seen. It seemed like a black hole from a Sci-Fi movie #Maysak pic.twitter.com/hmdBStaY6r
— Terry W. Virts (@AstroTerry) April 1, 2015
Oblique view of #typhoon #Maysak's eye. It has lost definition since last night, almost looks like 2 distinct eyes. pic.twitter.com/oi5JR2fhNY
— Terry W. Virts (@AstroTerry) April 2, 2015
Virts has just over a month left to shoot before he returns to Earth with ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti and Russian cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov on May 14.
Every #sunset is different, this one was blue. pic.twitter.com/tprbUsjotv
— Terry W. Virts (@AstroTerry) March 24, 2015
In honor of my friend and fellow fighter pilot "Divot." From above "the surly bonds of earth…" pic.twitter.com/vLnzAzPZhZ
— Terry W. Virts (@AstroTerry) March 24, 2015