André Kuipers:

1. England, Paris, Belgium, The Netherlands, Denmark, Germany and the Northern Lights over the polar region. 11th February 2012.
2. “Last night”: Nile, Egypt, Israel, Arabian Peninsula, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey. Sunrise in the east. 18th of March 2012.
Via Flickr. Taken from the International Space Station, Expedition 30. 
Credit: ESA/NASA

I read Charles Darwin’s The Origin of the Species as a very young kid and like so many others, I fell completely enamoured by the diversity of our planet. Here’s a couple of pictures of the Galapagos Islands from space, by André Kuipers. He writes: 

The Galapagos islands, one of the most famous, scientifically historic places on our planet.

Taken from the International Space Station, Expedition 30, on the 28th April 2012.

Via Flickr. Credit: ESA/NASA.