Photos that show our Blue Planet from space never fail to fascinate the Internet. Astronauts aboard the International Space Station often delight Earth-dwellers by sharing incredible pics from their vantage point - and something similar happened recently when Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi managed to take a stunning shot of a UNESCO World Heritage Site during his last day on the International Space Station.
Soichi Noguchi is one of the four astronauts who arrived back on Earth this Sunday in a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule. The other three are NASA's Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover and Shannon Walker. But before he left the ISS, Mr Noguchi managed to take a stunning shot of one of Earth's oldest and grandest monuments, which he shared on Twitter.
Mr Noguchi took to Twitter to share the picture which shows the Pyramids of Giza - a complex of ancient monuments in Egypt which is today a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Pyramids of Giza consist of the Great Pyramid of Giza , the smaller Pyramid of Khafre (or Chephren), and the Pyramid of Menkaure.
"Final Day on ISS - I got the best shot of Giza," wrote Soichi Noguchi while sharing the pic on Twitter.
The final day on #ISS – I got best shot of #Giza #Pyramid #worldheritage ギザの大ピラミッド、今日はきれいに捕れました。 pic.twitter.com/e3eYDG5i6h
— NOGUCHI, Soichi 野口 聡一(のぐち そういち) (@Astro_Soichi) May 1, 2021
The photograph has gone viral with more than 20,000 'likes' and hundreds of reactions on the microblogging platform.
Thank you so much! I love all the pics you posted. I looked forward each day to see our beautiful Earth ????! Praying that you all have a safe trip!
— ErlindaA (@ErlindaA13) May 1, 2021
fantastic capture @Astro_Soichi ..
— pecovgfx (@pecovgfx) May 1, 2021
So I decided to look up close, and also decided to have a flip to our common "terrestrial frame of reference" so it seems to look more comfortable to us common people to understand this way.. Blessings! :-) #ISS #Pyramids #Egypt #space pic.twitter.com/tuiIzM5iu8
Such a beautiful view taken from outer space.. Thank Noguchi, Soichi... https://t.co/Kk8CAlOZtU
— John (@John82510739) May 2, 2021
The SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule carrying four astronauts back to Earth splashed down off Florida early Sunday in NASA's first nighttime ocean landing in more than 50 years, according to news agency AFP.
The four astronauts went to space last November as the crew on the first fully operational mission to the ISS aboard a vehicle made by Elon Musk's SpaceX.
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