As commander of the International Space Station, Chris Hadfield captivated the world with beautiful photos and commentary from space.
In a new book, You Are Here: Around the World in 92 Minutes, Hadfield chooses the best from the thousands of photos he took on the International Space Station.
The Richat Structure in Mauritania, also known as the Eye of the Sahara, is a landmark for astronauts. If you've been busy doing experiments and haven't looked out the window for a while, it's hard to know where you are, especially if you're over a vast 3,600,000-square-mile desert. This bull's-eye orients you, instantly. Oddly, it appears not to be the scar of a meteorite but a deeply eroded dome, with a rainbow-inspired colour schemeChris HadfieldSalt from evaporation ponds in Great Salt Lake, Utah, is used to produce a lot of the world's magnesium metal. The largest saline lake in the western hemisphere attracts pastel-coloured algae, brine shrimp and the birds that love them, but so far, just this one lone wolfChris HadfieldOn a clear day you can see forever (or at least from Havana to Washington, DC)Chris HadfieldThe Nile, draining out into the Mediterranean. The bright lights of Cairo announce the opening of the north-flowing river's delta, with Jerusalem's answering high beams to the northeast. This 4,258 mile braid of human life, first navigated end-to-end in 2004, is visible in a single glance from spaceChris HadfieldA twist of cloud near Arica, Chile. You see these frequently in this part of the world because the Pacific is cold, the land is warm, and the currents and winds combine to form a cloudy vortex – clockwise here, because it's the southern hemisphere. North of the equator, the spiral would turn counter-clockwiseChris HadfieldManhattan awake, 9:23am local time...Chris Hadfield...Manhattan at rest, 3:45am local timeChris HadfieldVenice, floating in its lagoonChris HadfieldHimalayas, Tibet Autonomous Region, ChinaChris HadfieldMuch of the densely built-up waterfront around San Francisco sits on landfill, often a blend of rubble and sediment dragged up from the bay. In a major earthquake, landfill is more prone to liquefaction than bedrock: it behaves like a liquid, shaking far more severely, and is more likely to give way altogetherChris HadfieldDetroit, Michigan, right, and Windsor, Ontario – two countries, one riverChris Hadfield
Now retired, Chris Hadfield flew on three missions, spending 166 days in space and nearly 15 hours conducting spacewalks outside the space station.
He commanded the station from March to May 2013, and shot to international fame when he recorded a version of David Bowie's Space Oddity while "floating in a tin can, far above the world".
Chris Hadfield has spent 166 days in space and served as commander of the International Space Station in 2013Nasa/Victor ZelentsovYou Are Here: Around the World in 92 Minutes by Chris Hadfield published by Macmillan Hardback £20Macmillan Hardback
