European Space Agency astronaut Samatha Cristoforetti captured a photo of a portion of China’s Tanggula Mountains near Hala Lake as the International Space Station orbited 260 miles above the Earth on Sept. 5, 2022.
Since the station began hosting human astronauts in November 2000, crew members have produced hundreds of thousands of images of the land, oceans, and atmosphere of Earth, and even of the Moon through Crew Earth Observations. Their photographs of Earth record how the planet changes over time due to human activity and natural events. This allows scientists to monitor disasters, direct response on the ground and study a number of phenomena, from the movement of glaciers to urban wildlife.
Image credit: NASA