Gorgeous Views of Earth from Space Ring in New Year 2016 From the Space Station and Beyond
Earth from GOES East
Happy New Year 2016 from the International Space Station (ISS) and Beyond!
Behold Earth ! Courtesy of our Human and Robotic emissaries to the High Frontier we can ring in the New Year by reveling in gorgeous new views of our beautiful Home Planet taken from the space station and beyond.
Note: Check below for an expanding photo gallery! Plus ISS video greetings in English and Russian !
The Americas come to life in the Happy New Year image (above) captured by NOAA’s GOES East satellite “of our home on the first day of #2016.”
See much of the rest of Earth burst brightly in a Happy New Year image (below) snapped by the NASA/NOAA DSCOVR satellite from a distance of a million miles away.
And the six person multinational crew of Expedition 46, led by Station Commander Scott Kelly of NASA ushered in the New Year by sending hearty greetings and spectacular imagery to all Earthlings while soaring some 250 miles (400 kilometers) above us all.
Watch the pair of ISS New Years messages from the English and Russian speaking space flyers!
“Happy New Year to all the people of Planet Earth,” wished Kelly in a special New Year’s 2016 video message beamed down from the massive orbiting science complex.
Kelly was accompanied in the short video by two of his fellow Expeditions 46 crewmembers with well wishes for all the inhabitants of Earth: Flight Engineer Tim Kopra of NASA and Flight Engineer Tim Peake of the European Space Agency.
Video Caption: Aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 46 Commander Scott Kelly of NASA, Flight Engineer Tim Kopra of NASA and Flight Engineer Tim Peake of the European Space Agency wished the people of Earth a Happy New Year. Credit: NASA/ESA
Kelly is now three quarters of the way through his year-long mission on the ISS. Kelly comprises one half of the first ever ‘1 Year ISS crew’ – along with Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko – to study the effects of long term spaceflight in zero gravity on the human body and aid in planning on sending people on years long expeditions to Mars.
Russia’s trio of cosmonauts likewise send “Congratulations on New Year and Merry Christmas !!”
Video Caption: New Year’s greetings in Russian from Russia’s three ISS cosmonauts – Flight engineers Yuri Malenchenko, Mikhail Kornienko and Sergey Volkov of Roscosmos. Credit: Roscosmos
Indeed New Years Day marked Day 280 for Kelly and Kornienko aboard the ISS. Kelly snapped the photo of Earth below to celebrate the occasion of passing from 2015 into 2016.
“We’d like to say what a privilege it is to serve on board the International Space Station. And how grateful we are for all the teams on the ground that support our flying in space, and the science that’s on board,” Kopra added.
Kopra and Peake just arrived at the station barely two weeks ago following a flawless launch on Dec. 15 in their Russian Soyuz TMA-19M capsule from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Along with six time Russian space flyer Yuri Malenchenko they are beginning a six-month stint aboard the complex.
“I’d like to wish everyone down on our beautiful planet Earth a very happy New Year, and a fantastic 2016,” said Tim Peake, the first British astronaut to journey to the ISS.
On Dec. 27, 2015, Peake (@astro_timpeake) was already in the New Year’s spirit when he captured thus glorious view of the Alps in Winter which was featured on NASA’s image of the day on Dec. 30.
Peake wrote, “There may not be much snow in the Alps this winter but they still look stunning from here! #Principia”
Here’s a stunning view of an Aleutian island volcano blowing off some steam taken today, Jan. 2, by Scott Kelly.
Check out beautiful Calgary – as seen today by Tim Peake here:
See the New Years’ Day 2016 global view Earth from a million miles away courtesy of NASA’s EPIC camera on NOAA’s DSCOVR satellite – launched in 2015. Visible are portions of the continents of Africa, Australia, Asia, Antarctica and Europe.
Stay tuned here for Ken’s continuing Earth and planetary science and human spaceflight news.
Sandy and green on the South #Indian coast on Jan 2, 2016. #YearInSpace. Credit: NASA/Scott Kelly/@StationCDRKelly
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