Space / Space Flight

Visual Science The New View From Space

Astronauts add a new room with a glorious gazing window to the International Space Station. 

Image:NASA

It may be one of the hottest places on earth, but the Sahara has never looked cooler. This glimpse of the African desert comes to you from the International Space Station's new room with a view. The newly installed Tranquility module was the last major piece of the ISS to be put in place. On Wednesday, space shuttle pilot Terry Virts opened the windows of the new cupola one at a time, revealing this striking scene to astronauts Robert Behnken and Nicholas Patrick.

The picture was taken by Japanese astronaut and Expedition 22 flight engineer Soichi Noguchi. He "tweeted" this breathtaking image and several others via Twitter's photo service "Twitpic." You can follow shutter-happy astronaut Noguchi as he orbits Earth and relays back spectacular images at www.twitter.com/astro_soichi.