Astronaut Rick Mastracchio on the International Space Station (ISS) tweeted this image of one of the frozen Great Lakes in North America saying "It is tough up here to ID anything with so much snow, ice and clouds." From the unique vantage point of space, astronauts have taken photographs of the Earth since the Mercury missions in the early 1960s.Today, the ISS continues the NASA tradition of Earth observation from human-tended spacecraft. Operational since November 2000, the ISS is well suited for documenting Earth features and provides an excellent stage for observing most populated areas of the world. Images coming down from the International Space Station are processed on a daily basis and include over 1.2 million images through Nov. 1, 2013. Image credit: NASA #nasa #iss #space #exp38 #astrorm #greatlakes #frozen #snow #clouds #earthpics #earth #winter #ice