Look up at the Earth In low Earth orbit, everything's a matter of perspective. Depending on how you're floating, the Earth may appear to be orbiting below—or it could be above you, as seen in this image. Astronaut astro_pettit took this photo from the cupola aboard the ISS on March 15, 2025, as city lights and drifting clouds passed overhead. When Don Pettit took this photo, the station was orbiting about 261 miles (420 km) over the state of Kansas. Image description: City lights dot the cloudy Midwestern landscape as a wispy aurora dances above Earth's horizon in this photograph. In the bottom foreground is the Kibo laboratory module's Exposed Facility, an external research platform, and the orbital outpost's main solar arrays. Credit: NASA #NASA #Space #ISS #International #SpaceStation #NightSky #ThingsToDo #CityLights