Who is the astronaut who tweeted this amazing photo from space

More and more astronauts are sharing amazing photos from space on theirs social networks. One of the most eye-catching is veteran Don Pettit, who uses Twitter to reveal moments from his 25 years at NASA, inside the spacecraft and the International Space Station (ISS).

He uses professional photographic techniques and tools, which result in different shots, from a more than privileged point of view. This week he combined art and science in an intriguing image, made with a long exposure (capturing motion) and a “fisheye” (extreme wide angle) lens.

Even just for an illustration, but they are “just” city lights on Earth (orange) and star trails (blue, indicating the rotation of the Earth), seen through Cupola, a seven-window panoramic observatory on the ISS.

Long exposure fish-eye lens of the Earth from the Dome, aboard the @iss. Below, the city lights flow as orange streaks, and faint star trails are visible in the lower left showing the rotation of the Earth. #astrophotography you can find exciting ways to combine science and art! pic.twitter.com/JwrFeZMl7v

– Don Pettit (@astro_Pettit) September 11, 2022

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See the same scene recorded from another, more direct angle:

But, after all, who is Pettit and why are his photos all the rage?

Born in Oregon (USA), chemical engineer Donald Roy Pettit was a scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory until 1996, when he was selected by the NASA as an astronaut candidate. Six years later, he first went into space aboard the space shuttle Endeavor, as a specialist for ISS Expedition 6, for six months.

Currently, at 67, he is the oldest astronaut active in the US space agency. Now he has spent a total of 369 days and 41 hours in space on three trips. Look at the reflection in the seven glasses of the Cupola:

Another shot of the 7 Faces dome, this time intentionally to get my reflection. My kids liked the floating head effect. pic.twitter.com/IkCBrrhV

– Don Pettit (@astro_Pettit) April 4, 2012

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Pettit was in space when the Columbia space shuttle crashed, which exploded in February 2003, killing all seven crew members. That’s why he and his two expedition companions were the first Americans to return from the station to Earth in a Russian Soyuz capsule, which is still the case today.

In 2008 he went into space for the second time, as a specialist for the STS-126 mission, which brought equipment and supplies to the ISS. One travel 15 days fast, but that led to this beautiful space station flyby aboard Endeavor:

Between 2011 and 2012, during his last journey into space, Pettit lived for another six months on the ISS as a member of Expedition 30/31. He was the first astronaut in the history of space exploration to enter orbit on a commercial spacecraft docked to the ISS, in this case the SpaceX Dragon capsule.

This time he managed to capture an exterior view of his favorite corner of the space station: the Dome, of course. The Earth, below, makes the picture even more suggestive:

Photography is a great passion for the astronaut, who always brings his collection of cameras into space. He was lucky enough to witness two solar eclipses aboard the ISS: one in 2002 and one in 2012.

Pettit even surveyed Brazil, an agricultural area with the characteristic “drawings” of land and vegetation, which he called “pac-man”, in reference to the classic game.

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Who is the astronaut who tweeted this amazing photo from space

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