posted 12-22-2016 01:46 PM               

This majestic National Geographic photography book offers a spectacular view of Earth from outer space, featuring aerial imagery taken from the International Space Station by NASA astronaut Terry Virts.

Few people get the experience of seeing the world from outer space — and no one has taken as many pictures of Earth from above as Terry Virts. Celebrated NASA astronaut, pilot of the space shuttle, crew member on Soyuz, and commander of the International Space Station, Virts has spent more than 200 days in space — and very few of those days went by without his reaching for his camera.

Now as never before, Virts shares the astronaut's view of the world, offering astounding aerial views of our planet and the vastness that surrounds it. The colors, shapes, details — and the stories they tell — are endlessly fascinating. Virts's book marries his stunning photographs with glimpses of everyday life in orbit. And amid this amazing show of Earth spectacles, he reflects on how the astronaut's point of view has shaped his life and spirit. Filled with magnificent photographs that will astonish and inspire, this book — and its intrepid author — becomes our guide to a new way of looking at the world.

• Hardcover: 304 pages
  
• National Geographic (October 3, 2017)
  
• ISBN-10: 1426218648
  
• ISBN-13: 978-1426218644

posted 04-14-2017 09:49 PM               

...Virts, who flew to space twice during his NASA career for a total of 213 days off the planet, is a disarmingly thoughtful astronaut, and the stories he tells both in his book and in conversation reflect that.

"Exploring space is such a fundamentally human thing," he says. "I walk down the street and people don't know who I am, but if I put my NASA jacket on, everyone wants to talk. It's a universal fascination."

Virts' book, however, is more than his stories; it's also his pictures — dozens of vivid, often dizzying images not just of the Earth from space, but of the interior and exterior of the improbable skyliner that is the space station.

posted 04-17-2017 05:51 PM               

I'm excited to announce my new book "View from Above" published by National Geographic Books coming out on Oct 3. More to follow!

posted 10-03-2017 12:00 AM               

Astronaut-photographer Terry Virts shares 'View from Above' in new book

If, in fact, a picture is worth a thousand words, then astronaut Terry Virts has volumes to say about the view from space.

So much so, that the 300 photographs that fill the pages of his new book represent less than one tenth of one percent of all the photos he took in space. And that was just from one of his two flights to the International Space Station.

In "View from Above: An Astronaut Photographs the World," published on Tuesday (Oct. 3), Virts collaborates with the photo editors at National Geographic to offer a visually spectacular account of his seven months orbiting Earth.