posted 09-06-2013 09:31 AM               

Astronauts on board the International Space Station have many tasks, but a consistent favorite is taking photographs of Earth. The ISS astronauts don't just take digital images randomly. The photos they shoot are part of a well-defined program of data collection coordinated through the Crew Earth Observations team at Johnson Space Center. Current research targets include glaciers, deltas, urban areas, coral reefs, megafans (inland deltas), and long-term ecological monitoring sites. Dynamic events such as hurricanes, dust storms, volcanic eruptions, and fires are also imaged when possible. Astronauts also document the growth and change of human-made features, such as cities. The database of astronaut photography is freely accessible via the Internet and has made this book possible.

Like millions of you, I have taken great delight in following Chris Hadfield since his Soyuz launch in 2012. And it is now a privilege to produce this book celebrating a selection of many of Chris' beautiful and evocative photographs taken during his five months on the International Space Station (ISS). For his more than 1,000,000 Twitter followers, you will also find his artful tweets enlivening captions of his images. Complementing his photos are a number of NASA satellite shots captured by various orbital platforms over the last few years.

Chris and his family were determined that they would use social media to communicate the experience of space exploration in a most personal way. As millions of you know, he was successful beyond anyone's expectations. Pallab Ghosh of BBC News observed that; "He has probably become the most famous astronaut since the days of Neil Armstrong and Yuri Gagarin." Couldn't agree more. Ever the great communicator, Chris has his own book that will be on the shelves October 29th, 2013.

• Hardcover: 192 pages
  
• Publisher: Magic Light Publishing (November 1, 2013)
  
• ISBN-10: 1894673670
  
• ISBN-13: 978-1894673679

posted 09-06-2013 10:06 AM               

John McQuarrie is an Ottawa-based photographer whose major clients have included Coors, Marlboro, McDonnell-Douglas and Lockheed. But his real passion is producing coffee table books.