Extracts

See the world from space with Tim Peake

Feast your eyes on some of the amazing photos that Tim Peake took during his year on board the International Space Station.

Here are a few of our favourites.

, London, England
30 January 2016, London, England

The River Thames flows through the centre, with many of London’s famous bridges visible. The distinctive Isle of Dogs and Thames Barrier can also be seen. The central dark regions mark London’s royal parks, with Richmond park lower left.

19 May 2016, Bering Sea
19 May 2016, Bering Sea
Hello, is this planet Earth?

Tonight’s waxing gibbous moonset. Goodnight, Earth :)

This is a normal phase of the Moon. ‘Gibbous’ means the moon is more than half illuminated. ‘Waxing’ means growing in illumination. Where’s the rest of the Moon? Well, you’re seeing the bottom half of the Moon through the top of Earth’s atmosphere, which is fluid and causes this refraction effect (a bit like the heat hazes you see over roads on a hot day).

11 June 2016, Aldabra Islands, Seychelles
11 June 2016, Aldabra Islands, Seychelles
Hello, is this planet Earth?

‘Holiday Island.’ Towards the end of the mission, as we were starting to think more of home, we began planning our dream holidays. Each astronaut would pick their ultimate getaway island. This was mine.

27 February 2016, Ounianga Serir, Ennedi, Chad
27 February 2016, Ounianga Serir, Ennedi, Chad
Hello, is this planet Earth?

From space it’s easy to see how nature has sculpted the landscape. This is Ennedi, in Chad.

18 April 2016, Kamchatka, Russia
18 April 2016, Kamchatka, Russia
Hello, is this planet Earth?

Spotted a volcano smoking away on Russia’s far east coast this morning – heat has melted snow around the top.

These particular volcanoes are on the Kamchatka peninsula. The smoking one is Klyuchevskaya Sopka, the highest mountain on Kamchatka and the highest active volcano of Eurasia.

12 April 2016, Namche Bazar, Nepal
12 April 2016, Namche Bazar, Nepal

Looking North from India, Mount Everest is in the middle right (the one with a cloud just off the summit). There’s a ridge that comes across which is Lhotse. Cho Oyu in China is in the centre.

Sign up to the Penguin Newsletter

For the latest books, recommendations, author interviews and more