The Best International Space Station Photos of 2024

Each year, the International Space Station delivers some of the finest photographs in the world.

Astronauts are often adept photographers in technical terms - unsurprising given that many are engineers.

International Space Station views from orbit

Their greatest photographic asset, however, is the spectacular outlook from space as they orbit Earth every 90 minutes.

Whether it is blue comets, pink northern lights, snow-covered volcanoes or meandering rivers, the scene from 400 km above Earth rarely disappoints.

Here is a selection of the space station's best photographs from 2024.

The views from the International Space Station are simply unmatched.

As a result, astronauts capture hundreds of images every year.

"How would you not want to take pictures and try and share that with the rest of humanity?" NASA astronaut Matt Dominick told ABC News Radio in August.

This year offered an especially notable sight: the vivid, luminous Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, also known as Comet A3.

Astronauts also have a front-row view of the northern lights, or aurora borealis.

In April, they saw the Moon's shadow move across the US during the total solar eclipse.

Earth's atmosphere creates other remarkable displays, including colourful sunrises and sunsets.

This ghostly glow comes from noctilucent clouds - exceptionally rare ice-crystal formations located far higher in the atmosphere than any other clouds.

Even these stunning images fail to fully convey the real-life view, Dominick said.

"I've spent a fair amount of time trying to capture what I can see with my eye. I've not been able to achieve it yet," he said.

Aurora, eclipses and extreme weather

Not every sight is enjoyable or reassuring. Wildfires are clearly visible to astronauts.

They also receive a bird's-eye view of hurricanes every year.

Spanning hundreds of kilometres, powerful systems such as Hurricanes Helene and Milton can appear to engulf the world beneath them.

Astronauts can even spot lightning flashing through the cloud cover.

What they frequently cannot make out are national borders - as illustrated by the point in the Sahara Desert where Libya, Sudan and Egypt meet.

For decades, astronauts have described a profound change in outlook when they see Earth from above for the first time.

It is known as the "Overview Effect."

They describe intense feelings of wonder, togetherness and awareness of Earth's vulnerability.

Actor William Shatner spoke about it after his 2021 spaceflight with Jeff Bezos.

"There's the blue down there and the black up there."

"There is Mother Earth and comfort, and there is – is there death? I don't know."

"It really is difficult for me to imagine people on Earth not getting along together," NASA astronaut Suni Williams told reporters in September.

"It just changes your perspective."

Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore and the ISS's future

Williams and her fellow crew member Butch Wilmore have spent months stranded aboard the space station.

They became the first people to travel aboard Boeing's Starliner spacecraft on what was intended to be an approximately week-long flight in July.

Starliner flew back to Earth without them after engine problems prompted NASA officials to question its safety.

Williams and Wilmore are now due to come home aboard SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft in March.

They have handled the disruption calmly. "This is my happy place. I love being up here in space," Williams said.

However, the space station itself has limited time remaining. Its operational life will end in 2030.

NASA has commissioned SpaceX to develop a vehicle that will move the ISS out of orbit and send it on a fiery descent into the Pacific Ocean.

The ISS will leave a "big legacy," Dominick said.

"Look what humanity can do when they come together and work together."

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