{"id":798827,"date":"2025-10-20T14:00:32","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T19:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=798827"},"modified":"2025-10-20T14:00:32","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T19:00:32","slug":"see-the-beauty-of-space-captured-by-the-astronauts-who-experienced-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=798827","title":{"rendered":"See the beauty of space, captured by the astronauts who experienced it"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<figure class=\"ArticleImage\">\n<div class=\"Image__Wrapper\"><\/div><figcaption class=\"ArticleImageCaption\">\n<div class=\"ArticleImageCaption__CaptionWrapper\">\n<p class=\"ArticleImageCaption__Title\">Valeriy Polyakov in Russian space station Mir\u2019s window, taken from the space shuttle Discovery in 1995<\/p>\n<p class=\"ArticleImageCaption__Credit\">NASA<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n<p>In the 64 years since Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space, fewer than 700 people have followed him. But space flight becomes more affordable and accessible every year, and that number is set to rise dramatically.<\/p>\n<p>James Bluemel\u2019s new book <i>Once Upon a Time in Space<\/i> recounts the space race so far in photographs, released to accompany his BBC documentary of the same name. It features images from astronauts\u2019 collections and NASA archives, and stories from astronauts, scientists, engineers and space tourists alike.<\/p>\n<p>In the main image, above, cosmonaut Valeriy Polyakov is framed by the Russian space station Mir\u2019s window, taken from the space shuttle Discovery in 1995.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo see our planet from space affects everyone that has had that opportunity,\u201d says Bluemel. \u201cUniformly, astronauts and cosmonauts are filled with an admiration of the beauty of our planet, the swirling blues and whites set against the dark void of space. I think some of those emotions are transmitted through the photographs they take.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"ArticleImage\">\n<div class=\"Image__Wrapper\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"Image\" alt=\"NASA astronaut and Expedition 67 Flight Engineer Jessica Watkins enjoys the view of the Earth below from inside the International Space Station?s seven-windowed cupola. Once Upon a Time in Space book - James Bluemel Page 301\" width=\"1350\" height=\"2025\" src=\"https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15141743\/SEI_269394769.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15141743\/SEI_269394769.jpg?width=300 300w, https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15141743\/SEI_269394769.jpg?width=400 400w, https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15141743\/SEI_269394769.jpg?width=500 500w, https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15141743\/SEI_269394769.jpg?width=600 600w, https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15141743\/SEI_269394769.jpg?width=700 700w, https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15141743\/SEI_269394769.jpg?width=800 800w, https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15141743\/SEI_269394769.jpg?width=837 837w, https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15141743\/SEI_269394769.jpg?width=900 900w, https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15141743\/SEI_269394769.jpg?width=1003 1003w, https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15141743\/SEI_269394769.jpg?width=1100 1100w, https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15141743\/SEI_269394769.jpg?width=1200 1200w, https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15141743\/SEI_269394769.jpg?width=1300 1300w, https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15141743\/SEI_269394769.jpg?width=1400 1400w, https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15141743\/SEI_269394769.jpg?width=1500 1500w, https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15141743\/SEI_269394769.jpg?width=1600 1600w, https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15141743\/SEI_269394769.jpg?width=1674 1674w, https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15141743\/SEI_269394769.jpg?width=1700 1700w, https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15141743\/SEI_269394769.jpg?width=1800 1800w, https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15141743\/SEI_269394769.jpg?width=1900 1900w, https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15141743\/SEI_269394769.jpg?width=2006 2006w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 1288px) 837px, (min-width: 1024px) calc(57.5vw + 55px), (min-width: 415px) calc(100vw - 40px), calc(70vw + 74px)\" loading=\"lazy\" data-image-context=\"Article\" data-image-id=\"2500178\" data-caption=\"NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins in the International Space Station's cupola in 2022\" data-credit=\"NASA\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"ArticleImageCaption\">\n<div class=\"ArticleImageCaption__CaptionWrapper\">\n<p class=\"ArticleImageCaption__Title\">NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins in the International Space Station\u2019s cupola in 2022<\/p>\n<p class=\"ArticleImageCaption__Credit\">NASA<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n<p>Above, NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins enjoys a view of Earth from the International Space Station\u2019s cupola in 2022. The domed window has been a popular spot for astronaut photography since it was installed in 2010. Before then, only small portholes were available.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"ArticleImage\">\n<div class=\"Image__Wrapper\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"Image\" alt=\"Once Upon a Time in Space book - James Bluemel Landing site and surrounding area, as imaged from the Apollo 17 command module, 1972 Page 181\" width=\"1350\" height=\"1350\" src=\"https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15141749\/SEI_269394782.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15141749\/SEI_269394782.jpg?width=300 300w, https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15141749\/SEI_269394782.jpg?width=400 400w, https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15141749\/SEI_269394782.jpg?width=500 500w, https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15141749\/SEI_269394782.jpg?width=600 600w, https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15141749\/SEI_269394782.jpg?width=700 700w, https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15141749\/SEI_269394782.jpg?width=800 800w, https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15141749\/SEI_269394782.jpg?width=837 837w, https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15141749\/SEI_269394782.jpg?width=900 900w, https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15141749\/SEI_269394782.jpg?width=1003 1003w, https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15141749\/SEI_269394782.jpg?width=1100 1100w, https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15141749\/SEI_269394782.jpg?width=1200 1200w, https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15141749\/SEI_269394782.jpg?width=1300 1300w, https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15141749\/SEI_269394782.jpg?width=1400 1400w, https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15141749\/SEI_269394782.jpg?width=1500 1500w, https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15141749\/SEI_269394782.jpg?width=1600 1600w, https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15141749\/SEI_269394782.jpg?width=1674 1674w, https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15141749\/SEI_269394782.jpg?width=1700 1700w, https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15141749\/SEI_269394782.jpg?width=1800 1800w, https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15141749\/SEI_269394782.jpg?width=1900 1900w, https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15141749\/SEI_269394782.jpg?width=2006 2006w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 1288px) 837px, (min-width: 1024px) calc(57.5vw + 55px), (min-width: 415px) calc(100vw - 40px), calc(70vw + 74px)\" loading=\"lazy\" data-image-context=\"Article\" data-image-id=\"2500180\" data-caption=\"The landing site for the Apollo 17 moon landing, taken from the orbiting command module in 1972\" data-credit=\"NASA\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"ArticleImageCaption\">\n<div class=\"ArticleImageCaption__CaptionWrapper\">\n<p class=\"ArticleImageCaption__Title\">The landing site for the Apollo 17 moon landing, taken from the orbiting command module in 1972<\/p>\n<p class=\"ArticleImageCaption__Credit\">NASA<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"js-content-prompt-opportunity\"\/><\/p>\n<p>The image above shows the landing site for the Apollo 17 moon landing, taken from the orbiting command module in 1972. The mission was the sixth to put humans on the moon, and the last.<\/p>\n<p>The image below shows the space shuttle Atlantis connected to Mir, shot in 1995 by cosmonauts in a Soyuz spacecraft.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"ArticleImage\">\n<div class=\"Image__Wrapper\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"Image\" alt=\"This view of the Space Shuttle Atlantis still connected to Russia's Mir Space Station was photographed by the Mir-19 crew on July 4, 1995. Cosmonauts Anatoliy Y. Solovyev and Nikolai M. Budarin, Mir-19 Commander and Flight Engineer, respectively, temporarily undocked the Soyuz spacecraft from the cluster of Mir elements to perform a brief fly-around. They took pictures while the STS-71 crew, with Mir-18's three crew members aboard, undocked Atlantis for the completion of this leg of the joint activities. Solovyev and Budarin had been taxied to the Mir Space Station by the STS-71 ascent trip of Atlantis. Page 100\/101\" width=\"1350\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15141751\/SEI_269395046.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15141751\/SEI_269395046.jpg?width=300 300w, https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15141751\/SEI_269395046.jpg?width=400 400w, https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15141751\/SEI_269395046.jpg?width=500 500w, https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15141751\/SEI_269395046.jpg?width=600 600w, https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15141751\/SEI_269395046.jpg?width=700 700w, https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15141751\/SEI_269395046.jpg?width=800 800w, https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15141751\/SEI_269395046.jpg?width=837 837w, https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15141751\/SEI_269395046.jpg?width=900 900w, https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15141751\/SEI_269395046.jpg?width=1003 1003w, https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15141751\/SEI_269395046.jpg?width=1100 1100w, https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15141751\/SEI_269395046.jpg?width=1200 1200w, https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15141751\/SEI_269395046.jpg?width=1300 1300w, https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15141751\/SEI_269395046.jpg?width=1400 1400w, https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15141751\/SEI_269395046.jpg?width=1500 1500w, https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15141751\/SEI_269395046.jpg?width=1600 1600w, https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15141751\/SEI_269395046.jpg?width=1674 1674w, https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15141751\/SEI_269395046.jpg?width=1700 1700w, https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15141751\/SEI_269395046.jpg?width=1800 1800w, https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15141751\/SEI_269395046.jpg?width=1900 1900w, https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/15141751\/SEI_269395046.jpg?width=2006 2006w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 1288px) 837px, (min-width: 1024px) calc(57.5vw + 55px), (min-width: 415px) calc(100vw - 40px), calc(70vw + 74px)\" loading=\"lazy\" data-image-context=\"Article\" data-image-id=\"2500182\" data-caption=\"The space shuttle Atlantis still connected to Mir, shot in 1995\" data-credit=\"NASA\/Johnson Space Center\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"ArticleImageCaption\">\n<div class=\"ArticleImageCaption__CaptionWrapper\">\n<p class=\"ArticleImageCaption__Title\">The space shuttle Atlantis still connected to Mir, shot in 1995<\/p>\n<p class=\"ArticleImageCaption__Credit\">NASA\/Johnson Space Center<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n<section class=\"ArticleTopics\" data-component-name=\"article-topics\">\n<p class=\"ArticleTopics__Heading\">Topics:<\/p>\n<\/section><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/article\/mg26835650-200-see-the-beauty-of-space-captured-by-the-astronauts-who-experienced-it\/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&#038;utm_source=NSNS&#038;utm_medium=RSS&#038;utm_content=space&#038;rand=772163\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Valeriy Polyakov in Russian space station Mir\u2019s window, taken from the space shuttle Discovery in 1995 NASA In the 64 years since Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space,&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":798828,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-798827","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-new-scientist"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/798827","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=798827"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/798827\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/798828"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=798827"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=798827"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=798827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}