He might not have captured the public imagination to quite the same degree Commander Chris Hadfield did, but International Space Station astronaut Luca Parmitano has been making sure to keep up with the orbital photography.
Today, Parmitano - who is nearing the end of his first spaceflight - posted a picture of a sunny Dublin:
I had to wait but it was worth it: a sunny #Dublin! #Ireland #Volare pic.twitter.com/GRhDjXVRpx
— Luca Parmitano (@astro_luca) November 5, 2013
This isn't the first stunning photograph released by the Italian astronaut, of course. You can see some more of his efforts below, including his 'super' Halloween costume.
Parmitano has had quite the stay on ISS. Notably, during a spacewalk in July, Parmitano's helmet started filling with water, forcing the team to abandon the EVA (extra-vehicular activity) as Parmitano was at risk of drowning. He managed to return to the airlock safely.
A new crew are due to arrive at ISS on the 7th November, resulting in a brief overlap between Expeditions that will see 9 different astronauts on board the ISS. Parmitano and his crewmates Fyodor Yurchikhin and Karen Nyberg will depart on board their Soyuz vehicle on November 10th, after almost half a year in space.
Check out some more of Parmitano's photo tweets below:
Lex Luthor's dream... #Halloween :) pic.twitter.com/kuyBoRDkQI
— Luca Parmitano (@astro_luca) November 1, 2013
Over 5 months in space, and I still can’t get enough of this… #Volare pic.twitter.com/nKQfWFNjXL
— Luca Parmitano (@astro_luca) November 3, 2013
Flying east past the #Mediterranean, looking west. #Volare a est, oltre il Mediterraneo, guardando a ovest pic.twitter.com/0S8wkQySxa
— Luca Parmitano (@astro_luca) October 26, 2013
#Gibraltar, a night kiss between two continents. Il bacio notturno tra due continenti: Gibilterra #Volare pic.twitter.com/a6mNDtFmJO
— Luca Parmitano (@astro_luca) October 23, 2013
Image: Luca Parmitano / ESA
