NASA astronaut Jonny Kim poses for a photo inside the International Space Station’s “window to the world.”
NASA
2025 marked 25 years of nonstop human presence on the International Space Station.
Photos shared by NASA show what life looked like 250 miles above Earth this year.
Astronauts photographed the northern lights, hurricanes, lightning, rivers, and city streets.
In the 25 years since the first permanent crew docked at the International Space Station, fewer than 300 people have experienced what life is like there, 250 miles above Earth.
The rest of us can only imagine it.
So, for NASA astronauts like Don Pettit, taking photographs of our planet while aboard the ISS is a way to share the experience with people on the ground.
“It’s a labor of love,” Pettit said of his photography in an interview from space in December 2024. “That’s what astronauts spend a lot of their off-duty time doing: doing imagery, collecting the photographs that go with the memories to tell the story of what it’s like up here.”
In 2025, NASA shared thousands of photographs of Earth taken by its astronauts from the International Space Station.
The powerful images captured weather events from above, including deadly hurricanes and lightning strikes. Others showed the pinks and greens of the northern lights and what sunrises look like from space.
While there are challenges in taking photos from the ISS — the multiple layers of windows, for example, cause reflections that need to be overcome — there are benefits as well.
Large camera setups, like Pettit’s 800-millimeter telephoto lens and solar filter, would be cumbersome in a place with gravity.
“There are things we can do up here that would make many photographers envious when they’re mounting their heavy gear on stout tripods,” Pettit said.
This long-exposure photo by astronaut Nichole Ayers shows mesmerizing, illuminated arcs of star trails.
The photo was taken over 31 minutes from the International Space Station in July 2025.
NASA/Nichole Ayers
Using a handheld camera, Ayers also captured neon northern lights above the Indian Ocean.
The photo was taken as the ISS soared 269 miles above Australia and Antarctica in June 2025, NASA reported.
NASA/Nichole Ayers
Her image of lightning above Milan looks like something out of a movie.
Lightning above Milan, Italy, as seen from the ISS in July 2025.
NASA/Nichole Ayers
“I’m still amazed by every sunrise and every sunset that I get to see,” Ayers told Denver7. “I try to take as many pictures as I can so that we can share it with you all.”
A photo taken from the International Space Station shows New Year’s Day dawning on Cuba in 2025.
The lights of the Nile River, leading to Cairo, were captured as the ISS orbited 259 miles above Earth in July.
The Nile River was photographed from the International Space Station as it orbited 259 miles above Earth.
NASA
The river was also visible by day, as the ISS soared above the Mediterranean Sea.
The International Space Station above the Red Sea (right) and the Nile River (left) in September 2025.
NASA
An image shows the British Isles, upside down and brightly lit, with the northern coast of France in the background.
The bright lights of London are visible from the International Space Station in September 2025.
NASA
Astronauts also captured multiple scenes across the US, from Phoenix…
Phoenix, Arizona, from the International Space Station in May 2025.
NASA
… and the San Francisco Bay Area …
A photo taken from the ISS shows California’s San Francisco Bay Area surrounded by San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, and their suburbs in August 2025.
NASA/Nichole Ayers
… to the fields of Kansas.
Fields in Great Bend, Kansas, pictured from the International Space Station in August 2025.
NASA
The Florida peninsula was captured in the early hours of a March morning …
The Florida peninsula and the eastern coast of the US from the ISS in March 2025.
NASA
… and during the day. Here, the tip of Florida is visible between Cuba and the Bahamas.
Florida (center), Cuba (left), and the Bahamas (right) seen from the ISS in May 2025.
NASA
Astronauts were witnesses to disasters that wreaked havoc on American communities, such as the Los Angeles wildfires in January.
NASA astronaut Don Pettit shared images of the Los Angeles fires from the International Space Station on January 10, 2025.
NASA/Don Pettit
Impending disasters were also visible from space, such as Typhoon Halong, which inflicted devastation on Western Alaska in October.
The swirling clouds of Typhoon Halong near Japan, as captured by the ISS in October 2025.
NASA
They saw Hurricane Melissa, one of the most powerful Atlantic hurricanes on record, before it battered the Caribbean.
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