From their position on the International Space Station, astronauts are treated to a unique view of our planet that most people will never have the chance to see.
The ISS orbits Earth at a height of around 250 miles, meaning the space station makes around 16 trips around Earth every single day.
Now, one astronaut on board the ISS has snapped a beautiful bird’s-eye-view photo of Beijing at night.
NASA's Christina Koch took the photo this week, and shared it with her 178,000 followers on Twitter.
She wrote: “Gliding above a sleeping Beijing and Tangshan.”
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Ms Koch’s photo comes shortly before her return to Earth on Thursday, having spent a record 328 days on the space station. Her mission is the longest single spaceflight by any woman.
NASA explained: “She has been a crew member for three expeditions – 59, 60 and 61 – during her first spaceflight.
“She now holds the record for the second-longest single spaceflight by a US astronaut, which places her seventh on the list of US space travellers for overall time in space.
“Former NASA astronaut Scott Kelly holds the longest single spaceflight for US astronauts at 340 days, set during his one-year mission in 2015-16.”
Ms Koch will return to Earth this Thursday alongside ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Skvortsov.
During her 328 days in space, Ms Koch completed a dizzying 5,248 orbits of Earth on a journey of 139 million miles.
That’s roughly the equivalent of 291 trips to the Moon and back!
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