On September 22, 2010, with the departure of the Expedition 23 crew, Colonel Douglas H. Wheelock assumed command of the International Space Station and the Expedition 25 crew. He is also known as @Astro_Wheels on twitter, where he has been tweeting space photos to his followers since he arrived at the space station.
We thought that we should put some of the space photos together as a tribute to him and the whole ISS crew. The space photos bring breathtaking views from our only off planet Vista point.
The following space photos are all visible on Astro_Wheels’ twitpic account, and we are eternally grateful to him for sharing these space photos with the world. Many have commented directly to him but we want to make it clear Triggerpit does not have any affiliation with Astronaut Wheelock nor NASA. The confusion might have been since all the captions are all his own words as can also be seen on his twitpic account.[29 Pictures]
Go Discovery!
It was October 23, 2007 at 11:40am EST when I had my first ride to space on Discovery. She’s beautiful… just sad that this will be her last voyage. Looking forward to climbing aboard the flight deck when Discovery arrives at the Space Station in November. (9-23-2010). Incredible Photos from Space: Larry Tanner, NASA. Special thanks: Bethbeck’s blog
Incredible Photos from Space: ‘Earthshine’…
The Space Station basking in blue Earthshine as the rising sun pierces our razor-thin atmosphere to cover the Space Station with blue light. I’ll never forget this place…seeing this makes the heart soar and the soul sing (11-7-2010). Incredible Photos from Space: NASA, Astronaut Wheelock
Incredible Photos from Space: Isle Juan de Nova
In the Mozambique Channel between Madagascar and the African mainland. The beautiful colors rival the amazing places in the Caribbea (11-15-2010). Incredible Photos from Space: NASA, Astronaut Wheelock
Incredible Photos from Space: Aurora Borealis
In the distance on this beautiful night over Europe. The Strait of Dover is pretty clear as is Paris, the City of Lights. A little fog over the western part of England and London. It is incredible to see the lights of the cities and small towns against the backdrop of deep space. I am going to miss this view of our wonderful world… (11-8-2010). Incredible Photos from Space: NASA, Astronaut Wheelock
Incredible Photos from Space: Moon from the ISS
Fly me to the Moon…let me dance among the Stars…” I hope we never lose our sense of wonder. A passion for exploration and discovery is a noble legacy to leave to our children. I hope we set our sails and venture out one day. That will be one glorious day… (8-22-2010). Incredible Photos from Space: NASA, Astronaut Wheelock
Incredible Photos from Space: Progress-37 over Bahamas
Of all the places on our glorious planet, few rival the brilliant colors of The Bahamas. Here is a view of our Progress-37 re-supply spacecraft, with the islands of The Bahamas as a backdrop. What a wonderful world (8-22-2010)! Incredible Photos from Space: NASA, Astronaut Wheelock
Incredible Photos from Space: Astronaut working on the outside of ISS
Traveling at 17,500 miles per hour (5 miles per second)…we orbit the Earth every 90 minutes, with a sunrise or sunset every 45 minutes. So half of our space walk is in complete darkness. The helmet lights are essential at the work sight. Here I am getting the bail drive lever ready for my arch nemesis…the ‘M3 Ammonia Connector’. The dance begins (8-14-2010). Incredible Photos from Space: NASA, Astronaut Wheelock
Incredible Photos from Space: ISS solar panel with Earth in the background
Every moment I get to look out the window at our beautiful planet, my soul just sings!!…”I see skies of blue…and clouds of white…the bright blessed day…” (6-29-2010). Incredible Photos from Space: NASA, Astronaut Wheelock
Incredible Photos from Space: Daybreak
Another breathtaking sunset…we get 16 of these each day in Earth orbit, each one a treasured moment. That beautiful thin blue line is what makes our home so special in the cosmos. Space is cool…but, the Earth is a raging explosion of life in a vast sea of darkness (6-21-2010). Incredible Photos from Space: NASA, Astronaut Wheelock
Incredible Photos from Space: Atoll in South Pacific
Beautiful atoll in the South Pacific through a 400mm lens. About 1200 miles south of Honolulu . In the ‘Line Islands’ along ‘Christmas Ridge’, either ‘Teraina’ or ‘Tabuaeran’? (11-15-2010). Incredible Photos from Space: NASA, Astronaut Wheelock
Incredible Photos from Space: Cyprus
Beautiful reflection of sunlight on the eastern Mediterranean Sea. No borders or conflict visible from space…just breath-taking beauty like this view of the island of Cyprus (6-21-2010). Incredible Photos from Space: NASA, Astronaut Wheelock
Incredible Photos from Space: Hurricane Earl
Out over the central Atlantic, just before another spectacular sunset, with the spiral bands of Hurricane Earl visible in the setting sun. An interesting view of the life-giving energy of our sun. The solar arrays on the port side of the Space Station as well as Hurricane Earl…both gathering the last bit of energy before they fall into eclipse (8-30-2010). Incredible Photos from Space: NASA, Astronaut Wheelock
Incredible Photos from Space: Ayers Rock
Just a little further to the east, we spotted sacred and majestic ‘Uluru’. You may recognize it by its more popular name of ‘Ayers Rock’. I have never had the opportunity to visit Australia, but one glorious day, I hope to be standing amazed beside this natural wonder. Can’t wait to read your thoughts of ‘Uluru’ (10-26-2010). Incredible Photos from Space: NASA, Astronaut Wheelock
Incredible Photos from Space: Mountain in the Andes in South America
Morning breaking over the majestic Andes in South America . I really am not sure of the name of this mountain…just was in awe of its majesty, reaching into the windswept heights and the rising sun. Another day… another chance to stand tall and be counted (10-30-2010). Incredible Photos from Space: NASA, Astronaut Wheelock
Incredible Photos from Space: The Nile and Egypt by day
Over the Sahara Desert approaching ancient lands and thousands of years of history. The Nile River flowing through Egypt past the pyramids of Giza up to Cairo in the delta; the Red Sea, Sinai Peninsula, Dead Sea; Jordan River; and the Sea of Galilee are visible, as are the island of Cyprus in the Mediterranean Sea and Greece coming over the horizon (9-6-2010). Incredible Photos from Space: NASA, Astronaut Wheelock
Incredible Photos from Space: The Nile and Egypt by night
A night view of the Nile River winding up through the Egyptian desert toward the Mediterranean Sea, and Cairo in the river delta. Such a stark contrast between the dark desolate lifeless desert of northern Africa and the Nile River teeming with life along its shores. In the distance… the eastern Mediterranean on a beautiful autumn evening (1-31-2010). Incredible Photos from Space: NASA, Astronaut Wheelock
Incredible Photos from Space: Progress 39P
Our ‘Progress 39P’ unmanned resupply spaceship on final approach for docking this past Sunday. It was laden with food, fuel, spare parts, and much needed supplies for our orbiting outpost. The greatest gift was just inside the hatch…some bags of fresh fruit and vegetables. Such a wonderful treat after 3 months of eating out of tubes and plastic pouches (9-15-2010)! Incredible Photos from Space: NASA, Astronaut Wheelock
Incredible Photos from Space: view out of the cupola
Wanted to share this view out of the Cupola. We said farewell to our teammates Sasha, Misha and Tracy this weekend and they are safely back on planet Earth. Tracy in quiet reflection of an incredible journey…homeward bound…(9-26-2010). Incredible Photos from Space: NASA, Astronaut Wheelock
Incredible Photos from Space: Soyuz 23s above the Caspian Sea
Soyuz 23S, “Olympus” docked to the nadir side of the Space Station. This will be our ride back home to planet Earth when our work is complete here. Thought I would tweet this view out of the Cupola, as we were passing over the majestic snow-capped Caucuses. The sun rising and reflecting off the Caspian Sea (9-26-2010). Incredible Photos from Space: NASA, Astronaut Wheelock
Incredible Photos from Space: Part of the Great Barrier Reef
An explosion of color, motion, and life painted on the canvas of our wonderful world. This is a section of the Great Barrier Reef off the eastern coast of Australia, captured through a 1200mm lens. I think even the great Impressionists would be awestruck with this natural display (8-22-2010). Incredible Photos from Space: NASA, Astronaut Wheelock
Incredible Photos from Space: Italy by night
The beauty of Italy, on a clear summer night, stretching out into the Mediterranean Sea. You can see many of the beautiful islands lit up and adorning the coastline including Capri, Sicily, and Malta. The city of Naples and Mt. Vesuvius stand out along the coast. Viva Esperia (8-22-2010)! Incredible Photos from Space: NASA, Astronaut Wheelock
Incredible Photos from Space: Patagonia glacier
At the southern end of South America lies the jewel of Patagonia. The awe-inspiring beauty of rugged mountains, massive glaciers, fjords, and the open sea collide in a breathtaking display. I have dreams of this place and wonder what it would be like to breathe this air. Pure majesty (8-28-2010)! Incredible Photos from Space: NASA, Astronaut Wheelock
Incredible Photos from Space: The Cupola from the outside
The ‘Cupola’, attached to the nadir side of the Space Station, gives a panoramic view of our beautiful planet. Fyodor took this picture from the window of the Russian Docking Compartment (Airlock). Here I am in the Cupola preparing a camera for our late evening Hurricane Earl flyover…trying to capture the moment…(8-31-2010). Incredible Photos from Space: NASA, Astronaut Wheelock
Incredible Photos from Space: Greece by night
The Isles of Greece during a clear night pass over Europe. Athens shining brightly along the Mediterranean Sea. A very surreal feeling to view the splendor of this ancient land from outer space (9-4-2010). Incredible Photos from Space: NASA, Astronaut Wheelock
Incredible Photos from Space: Florida by night
The Florida peninsula and the southeastern U.S. on the kind of evening that I miss most about our planet. A clear autumn night with moonlight over the water and the sky filled with a billion stars (11-2-2010). Incredible Photos from Space: NASA, Astronaut Wheelock
Incredible Photos from Space: Middle East by night
A clear starry night over the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea . Ancient lands with thousands of years of history stretching from Athens, Greece all the way around the Med to Cairo, Egypt. Storied lands, fabled cities, and alluring islands… Athens – Crete – Rhodes – Izmir – Ankara – Cyprus – Damascus – Beirut – Haifa – Amman – Tel Aviv – Jerusalem – Cairo are beacons on this cool November night. Grace and Peace from the sanctity of space… (11-7-2010). Incredible Photos from Space: NASA, Astronaut Wheelock
Incredible Photos from Space: Sunset
It is the season for viewing Polar Mesospheric Clouds, and with our high beta-angle we were able to capture this thin layer of noctilucent clouds at sunset (6-25-2010). Incredible Photos from Space: NASA, Astronaut Wheelock
Incredible Photos from Space: Crew leaving the ISS
Shannon, me, and Fyodor all suited up in our Sokol (Russian word for ‘Falcon’) pressure suits in the Russian MRM-1 module. We strapped into our Soyuz capsule ‘Olympus’ to conduct pressurization and leak checks on our suits. All systems ‘go’… the countdown to landing has begun. Leave a light on for us… we’ll be home soon… (11-20-2010). Incredible Photos from Space: NASA, Astronaut Wheelock








Absolutely stunning. I was blown away by the beauty. What an honor to have had the opportunity to experience this in person, Astronaut Wheelock.
thank you for sharing views of our precious world with those of us at KSC who started you on your journey.
you say you are the ones who got him started, can u get me started, my dream is to go to space, i am turning 18 in 3 months
Such incredible beauty that God has blessed us with. They are so amazing. My husband & I are always watching NG on Discovery channel about the exploration of space and the galaxy. You are doing a tremendous job with the photo’s. Hope to see some more soon. Thank you so much for sharing these few with us.
The only disadvantage is: You need a god to understand beauty!
Thanks for the great pictures to the astronaut.
It would be nice if people just posted their appreciation of the magnificent photos instead of pushing their views on others. I need religion to appreciate these photos like a photographer needs a camera to enjoy a sunset.
Great photos thanks for posting.
Thanks for the great photos of the earth and space craft photos. I have been to a lot of the places U have shown and they are amazing to see these areas from space. Hope U can take more photos for us to look at and admire God’s handiwork of creation.
These pictures are incredible! What a glorious God we have been created by. The Bible is true when it says that God is a God of order and that nothing has ever been made that was not made through Him.
Why must the loony God brigade spoil what is a beautiful set of photographs with irrelevant references to a made up entity?
To Astronaut Wheelock: Thank you for the pictures. It is interesting that you want to stand beside Ayer’s Rock. When I visited the rock in 1986 with a bus group, the bus driver mentioned that he had never climbed it as most people do, because the rock is sacred to the Aboriginals. Instead of climbing the rock, I ran around it (about 6 miles).
Thank you for allowing us to see from space the many places we have seen from earth. A different perspective indeed. Very wonderful.
well, for starters, asttronaut wheelock. you could be my brother, because in the photograph with your fellow astronauts you look like myself. i thought it was actually beyond my understanding, because you really do look like myself.
Just stunning and breath taking.
Awesome pics, my hats off to the photographer,…and the builder of earth !
I know you being doing very well and hard to become an Astronaut, Still I think you are a very lucky man to have the change to travel in space. Thanks for all the pictures you show us. 感恩哈!
Oh! yea of little faith – the disbelivers! – thank you Colonel Douglas Wheelock for sharing with us the beauty of our magnificent Earth which so many Nations seem eager to distroy with hatred and greed….
A big thank you to Astronaut Wheelock for sharing his wonderful pictures – and lucid captions – with us. This helped me, for one, share what must have been a truly wondrous experience that most of us will never have – seeing our planet earth from space. What an incredibly beautiful planet we live on – could it truly have been ‘just an accident of nature’? Perhaps we will never have proof, one way or another. But that doesn’t matter; let’s not be distracted from the chance to protect and honour our planet’s beauty by squalid squabbles about religious beliefs, just get on with it.
I am simply amazed by the fact that there are still some naïve hard heads who do not accept EVOLUTION as a fact, a proven fact by science, experiments, and the evidence all around us. 64 bolts, and all those who are so deep in the Bible and all the rest of religious indoctrination, look around you, take a microscope and telescope and see the world. Our scientists have taken a picture of atom, and the galaxies 13.5 billion light years away from our Solar System, have replaced the human hearts and other organs, sent satellites beyond the Solar System which are still recording various data for us here on Earth, plus countless other accomplishments never once mentioned, or anticipated in the Bible! There is a book called MYTHOLOGY where you will find mythologies of many nations, and religions. There were nothing but the inventions of mankind, attributing all important unexplained things, and events to GODS. Had these people had all the scientific knowledge we have today, these books would have never been written. What a waste of time, effort, resources, and energy to study and try to explain life and everything using a MYTH, instead of sciences! We would have never gone to the Moon and back, nor had neither nuclear energy, nor thousands of other accomplishments if we followed the Bible. Never. We climbed the ladder of progress BECAUSE we ignored the Bible and devoted instead our energy using sciences to better our lives. Even some priests dared to improve our knowledge and confirm Evolution like Gregory Mendel, or Charles Darwin whose father was a minister, these people and number of others dared to ‘stray’ from the dogma and myths in the Bible and better our lives with their discoveries.
Vita sine litteris mors est…Life without learning (education) is death.
RIP, then poor soul!
B Kornic… You are being logical and rational… an unnatural trait among the human species… Most won’t understand your truth…
To B Kornic – I could not have said it better myself.
and to those who believe: “There is no god – now stop worrying and enjoy your life”.
and great pics thanks to human ingenuity and astronaut wheelock.
You are right! lets feed the Christians to the lions! This is a brave new world with no place for religion and other superstitions.
Its too bad evolution is not actually a fact. So considering you don’t understand the difference between fact and theory, its difficult to take the rest of your “opinion” seriously.
It is a pity you do not understand what science calls a fact…….. it is simply a degree of probability of certitude….. in science there are no absolute ‘facts’ all belief is questioned and accepted as the best explanation so far…… we are constantly trying to disprove all our ‘facts’ and will throw them away if a better, simpler or more rational ‘fact’, law, theory or hypothesis can be shown to ‘fit the evidence so far presented. Science is the antithesis of religion in that it doubts everything and ‘faith’ has no part in its structures.
Ranting about evolution and putting down our God given blessings is with out perspective. They all tie together . Greater minds than ourselves , men and women of science, realised that the order and evolution didnot come from no where .
The creation came long long before the gift of learing and education , which also evolved .The bible didnot need to anticipate any thing , but give us a way to live, love, learn and and appreciate our God given creation , learn from it all and grow it all to what it is today.
Sadly you are missing the greater side of life and learning.
Come to Africa , the cradle of mankind and we will show you.Our first people and your first people knew all about this long before you did and were naturally more advanced in understanding than most of the so called scientist of our day.
You have obviously never been touched by the wind.
RIP
To:B. Kornic, I’m betting that you were the guy in high school who never tried drugs or did anything on the edge unless you could drag at least one of your buddies down with you. If you were so absolutely sure that everything you are trying to sell was correct, you wouldn’t be so adament about changing the minds of everyone who thinks differently. I would be willing to bet the farm that you are going to be slipping in your own crap and hoping that you are right about this while lying on your death bed! Even the most devout believer in any of these theories has some doubt. I am not a religious man but a I have pretty strong convictions in what I believe; however, I would never tell anyone that they are wrong about their opinion just because I think differently. It is simply an opinion, it is YOURS and therefore, it can’t possibly be wrong! It is quite obvious, that in your quest for EDUCATION, you forgot to take COMMON SENSE 101. The simple fact that you make all these quotes in Latin and then translate them to English makes it quite evident that you are merely a showoff… do you really think that saying it in Latin first gives the meaning more credibility? Get off your high horse… guys like you are a dime a dozen!
Just another reminder of what our great God, the “Star Breather” has blessed us with! (Taken from Isaiah) Never take our earth for granted! It is a beautiful gift that I praise him for everyday!
These outstanding photos are just another reminder of the magnificent gift our God, “the Star Breather” (taken from Isaiah) has given us. Praise him for the beauty we have been given!
I love your reply. thanks for all you guys do.
Absolutely breathtaking! Proud to be an American!
Thanks to Spaceman Wheelock for these fantastic, breathtaking photos of our world.
I really enjoyed the beauty of God’s creation even though I’m not excited about space endeavors. I am 85 years old and feel like I’ve been on info overload for too long. I wanted to share these with some friends but forward never showed up anywhere. I don’t like Facebook and probably would feel the same about Twitter. They are called Social Network? Why? I don’t think the world today knows what social really is. Years ago before TV and all the technology that followed people were social and enjoyed each other. They were happier with less materially and had a more developed imagination. Fortunately, what God created is still the same for He does not change nor does His creation. Praise God!
only beautiful of the universe….
AWESOME PIC, THANK GOD FOR THESE PIC
I just had a chance to look at the pics you all took and they are so great. Thank you for the chance to see my world from a different few.
I am surrounded by idiots.
Every post on this page should simply be a thank you…
…to the courageous and pioneering astronauts who have shared these apparently existence-inspiring photographs.
Thank you.
Those of you that would like to thank your god, OR the God you believe in, OR the Intelligent Designer, OR mother nature, OR who or whatever for what you have seen… do it during your next prayer, siesta, break, WHATEVER… do it on your own time as I am sure the astronauts have done themselves. Don’t tell me who I should thank, or when and how I should do the thanking, thank you. I don’t believe that this is a religious / anti-religious discussion blog… and your God, or Mother Nature, OR the mad scientist or who or whatever is not going to be reading this anyway.
Instead of appreciating all the beauty and magnificence, regardless of who or what created it or how it was created, cause it doesn’t matter, you bicker over who should get credit for it. Only stupid superficial, arrogant, self-righteous humans have to get credit for making something beautiful. You don’t see Elephants or Lions having each other over for tea so they can show them the new patio they built.
Thank you again to Mr. Wheelock, the 1,000s of scientists, engineers and all of the other people including those that came before us that helped to lay the foundations that made that space station, that cool ass cupola and everything else possible for everyone to have the opportunity to have another point of view to appreciate when considering the nature of our existence and the essence of beauty. Thank you also to whoever or whatever for everything else that we cannot explain or break down into a formula. May we appreciate everything as if it is always the last time we will ever have the opportunity to appreciate them.
PEACE TO ALL.
You miss the Point of comment pages such as this…They are here so people can express their opinions & Thoughts…If the webmaster had not wanted comment & discussion, he/she would not have made it possible…I find you the Idiot for not understanding this concept…
I find this page Fascinating…Even though I don’t agree with many of the beliefs posted here…If you only want to read Thank Yous & Sweetness & Light…I would suggest you go to Colonel Wheelock’s blog & post there…
He is a highly Intelligent man with a Beautiful Soul…& I am certain he Understands human nature…If he even reads this page or knows it exists..
To what purpose all this, when we are destroying our green planet earth.
When poverty is abysmal. When our health is compromised. When
one mad man can destroy everything by pulling the nuclear button.
Can we grow in wisdom and spirituality.
You are one of the few comments that are not in awe of this amazing collection of the most expensive photos in history — I personally think
the whole space project NASA and the Russian space station is a total waste of time and money — What’s the point?? – Lets go to the moon and Mars and screw them up too –
Thank you Douglas Wheelock, you have made this a very good day. Your contribution to my knowledge and pleasure is beyond measure.
Unbelievable and wonderful pictures. Can’t believe how far we have travelled. From twice weekly visit to the News Theatre to see Flash Gordon, To the exciting time when I got my children out of bed to see the first men on the moon. Now at the age of three-score-years-and-ten plus a couple more, never will there be so much happening in the SPACE future as in my lifetime.,
“GOD SAVED A SPACE FOR ME IN HEAVEN ”
I think you’re referring to Heaven Lite. Heaven Pro is infinite – room for all, no reservations needed, and no special catch phrases required for entry.
That thin strip of blue atmosphere visible in the sunset shots ought to wake us all up to the tenuous grip life has on this one rock in a vast ocean of dry, dusty places. Ironic that the same space program that gives us this view is up to no good with the militarization of space. As if a bucket of nails sent into orbit wouldn’t end the whole adventure–virtually forever.
I was awe struck by these photographs and entertained by your captions and comments.
Thank you for making these available astronaut Wheelock. I will share them with teachers and students in the school district where I work and encourage family & friends to indulge in your love of our planet as well. Thank you.
Greta
Great space photos
I lol at all you religious loonatics
where is the proof the your god exists?
c’mon show me his picture, who made him
does he have a god.
you all probably think that Jesus was white too.
just remember who his parent were and which country he came from.
The pic’s are fantastic thank you for posting
science is a wonderful thing
These are truely AWESOME. THANK YOU
Thank you so very much to all who participated in producing these wonderful awe inspiring pictures. I am 74 and used to marvel at all my 96 year old grandmother must have seen in her life. Now I marvel at all I have been privileged to see and experience. To every one involved, I can only repeat thank you thank you thank you.
Breathtaking pics.
Thank you for sharing your pic’s, the only way it could have been better is to have seen this in person. I have worked on the suttle and ISS development for about 30 years. Glad to see it all come together and glad All Are Well!
Absolutely awesome!!! Everyone should have to view these–it feels like we are so small compared to the rest of the universe, maybe peace would break out all over this world. Wouldn’t it be just great? Thank you for the great pictures.
I guess I can understand all these religious people jumping in to try and promote God.
It’s very threatening to see your entire belief system crumble at the sight of a picture.
Knee jerk defensiveness, thats all.
Eventually, they will be left behind, or modify their belief to be more in tune with reality.
Some people already do. A belief in a God is not completely incompatible with scientific belief, just incompatible with a strict Judeo-Christian Biblical interpretation of God.
Fabulous photos – thank you so much for sharing your trip with us
Today I know our earth is so beautiful. Thanks
Thank you for sharing these pics with the world.
And what a sensitive soul to relay all the wonderful,
heartfelt words with each one…
one word beautiful
These are the things we enjoy and leave for our kids, Thank you so much for showing us a little bit about the things that we can’t see every day, and sometime we forget how beautifull the world is and how special we are to be here and also have you guys to bring it to us to see.
Thanks for sharing.
Photo #8 should be corrected to read work site rather than sight.
Again, my thanks dick
Thank you for sharing! You know: thats the reason we want to pay our tax money for science: to be able to watch these pics when we are not able to fly that high ourselves ( or too scared to do so)….
As an atheist, I don’t care how the earth was created. I’m just glad it was and that Col. Wheelock has the skills to go into space and send us his magnificent photographs to enjoy.
Absolutely magnificant!!!!! Our God is an awesome God!!!
“Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us.” Abraham Lincoln. By the way, B Kornic, you spelled fanatic wrong. So much for education having all the answers.
lets feed the Christians to the lions!
Anti religious anger reminds me of those shirtless women pro-choice protesters standing opposite the “religious” pro-lifers in the 80s. They (the pro-choicers) would curse and scream and shriek while the religious would quietly hold a vigil for something they believed was life. There seems to be a more angry attitude among the atheists than the religious. Also, in history many who were murderers and tyrants cloaked themselves in religious garb and now us great “historians” point back and say, “See! We told you so!” .. a type of reasoning you would never tolerate using “science” or anthropology. If you read some of the recent news, most of what is considered “right” about medicine is wrong according to Dr. Ioannidis (one of medicine’s top mythbusters) so new studies sen us back to the drawing board and hopefully we make progress. (which we have) ..but one area that people seem to make little progress in is how we debate or refute those we disagree with. Maybe that’s why we have such a high divorce rate (over 50 per-cent) I don’t know if I call that progress but many sacred texts have some good insights into kinds greatest needs. Also. sure the photos are breath taking but we could just as easily say its all just neural interaction with an environment which is 99 percent invisible.
Great pictures! Thanks for posting them.
It’s understandable that when looking at the beauty of the earth and space and the wonderful achievements of science and humanity that the mind wonders in awe at how this ‘things’ came to be so that we could appreciate them like in these pictures. It’s natural to all of us to question how they got here. Scientific views propose a ‘big bang’ or other similar theories that try to explain it but like one poster mentioned before, science and logic dictate that nothing can’t create something, something always comes from something else. This is why I think it’s logic that all of this we see around us came from something greater.
I’m a software engineer and have a great appreciation of science and technology (appreciation in the sense that I like it and I’m fascinated by it), I also admire the capacity and ability of the human mind to set and achieve goals as impressive as the ones needed to provide the pictures we see here. But I must say that I don’t have enough faith to believe in the theory of evolution nor that the earth and universe came from nothing in one big explosion. There are serious and grave problems with the theory of evolution, do some research! don’t believe everything science is telling you today, because as we know by extensive experience across centuries, science has been wrong before.
I think the main reason why humanity in general does not want to recognize the possibility of a creator is because if we do, then we have to acknowledge the existence of such being and that implies some responsibility towards him. Some think it’s more convenient to deny any possibility of the existence of such creator and get a false sense of ‘freedom’ so that we can declare ourselves to be our own god.
“For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.”
But there is hope for humanity and the good news is that while we do have a creator who is God and created us, he wants to reconcile with us and have a relationship with us. Even knowing we would be rejecting his very existence, he loved us so much that he sent his son Jesus Christ to die in our place so that we could live with Him. It’s a gift for all humanity. This universe, space and earth were created so that we could know Him and appreciate all the blessings of his wonderful creation.
I hope you at least give the God ‘theory’ the same time and thought as you do for some others. You may be surprised at what you find.
With love and respect. Peace.
From John Facer
Your all right! Your all wrong! We only have one LIFE!
Why waste it on contradictions? Be in total awe of the possibilities
and the enormity of me sitting and seeing views of the world
on my computer! How awesome and mind boggling is that?
Hold hands with the world, your neighbour, you enemies,
and offer only love! THAT is religion! Peace to the lump of rock!!!
Thank you Col Wheelock, for sharing the majestic and mighty, the beauty of timeless memories now held tightly from your lens. We have been blessed by the pioneer spirit to have all the people involved in the space program since time eternal, to get us to where you can cruise around the world in 90 minutes, and have to race to get your camera ready! I thought taking picture from a tour bus was tough!
Your one of a select few who has been able to take the chance of a lifetime to support the greater good for mankind and the world, and share with all of us not so lucky to come to space in person, but to live vicariously as voyeurs of your sojourn.
Thanks again. Best to you with your next adventure.
Winston Churchill said it best: “To every man, there comes in his lifetime that special moment when he is figuratively tapped on the shoulder and offered that chance to do a very special thing, unique to him and fitted to his talents. What a tragedy if that moment finds him unprepared or unqualified for that which would be his finest hour.”
God or no God, no one really knows apart from the individual within their own mind.
What is important is that these pictures are totally awesome and if anyone can put aside
there own individual beliefs and view the pictures in reverence, then reality will show the truth
that if we love each other without hesitation or judgement then the planet as seen will be
RICHER and we all will benefit. We all have such a miniscule time on this planet why not
love our time and each other. LIFE IS SO LIMITED AND THE PLANET IS SO MAGNIFICENT!
What a wonderful sightseeing. My sincere gratitude for sharing this treasure with us. This makes me feel how fortunate I am. It would have been greater fun had we seen Asia and especially India. However, my sincere regards.
Incredible photographs. Life worth viewing. What about Asia ; India. ? Thanks and Regards
Beautiful pictures. Some brought me to tears looking at them. I’m speakless.
I mean, speechless. See what I mean?
Thank you for sharing these beautiful photos with the world.