The International Space Station is not only one of humanity’s greatest feats of engineering and intercontinental co-operation, it helps us peer at our planet in ways that wouldn’t be possible without its constant orbit.

Since its first inhabitants boarded the station in November 2000, 230 people from 18 countries have visited. At any one time, an international crew of six live and work onboard while traveling at a speed of five miles per second, orbiting Earth every 90 minutes.

Over the past 19 years, these crews, as well as cameras fitted to the station, have captured everything from star trails to lightning strikes, bright auroras and landmarks not visible from the ground. Here is a selection of the most awe-inspiring of these images.

Milky Way and lightning over the Pacific

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Nasa

Here's a photograph of Earth’s nightlights was taken in August 2015 as the station flew over the Pacific Ocean and the island of Kiribati, south of Hawaii.

This short-lens photograph of Earth’s nightlights was taken in August 2015 as the station flew over the Pacific Ocean and the island of Kiribati, south of Hawaii.

The pattern of stars in the photo are part of our Milky Way galaxy, looking toward its centre, and are shown alongside dark, dense dust clouds. The colours framing the curvature of the Earth feature a mixture of green, orange and red layers of airglow. The bright light in the bottom right-hand region of the photo is a lightning flash inside an illuminated mass of clouds.

Earth and the ISS captured in “space selfie”

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Nasa

During a spacewalk, Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques took this “space selfie” in his helmet, managing to capture the curvature of the Earth.

During a six-and-a-half-hour spacewalk in April 2019, Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques took this “space selfie” in his helmet, managing to capture the curvature of the Earth as well as part of the International Space Station.

The image is reflected off a thin layer of gold used on astronaut helmets to protect wearers from the Sun’s UV rays and extreme temperatures. During this spacewalk, Saint-Jacques and NASA astronaut Anne McClain fixed part of the Canadian-built robotic arm, known as Canadarm2, and installed cables to boost the strength of wireless communications coverage aboard the station.

Spacewalk over New Zealand

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Nasa

Here astronauts are shown making adjustments to the exterior of the ISS during an extravehicular activity (EVA) mission in December 2006.

Backdropped by clouds above parts of New Zealand, astronauts Robert Curbeam Jr. (left) and European Space Agency astronaut Christer Fuglesang are shown making adjustments to the exterior of the International Space Station during an extravehicular activity (EVA) mission in December 2006.

During this spacewalk, which was Fuglesang’s first of five spacewalks, the pair replaced a video camera on the station’s trusses. The spacewalk lasted six and a half hours.

Lights of the Northern European cities

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Nasa

Pictured clockwise from top right to bottom left, the brightest lights are those in London, Amsterdam, The Hague, Rotterdam, Antwerp and Brussels.

This nighttime shot, taken as the International Space Station orbited 258 miles above the English Channel, shows the lights of the northern European cities.

Pictured clockwise from top right to bottom left, the brightest lights are those in London, Amsterdam, The Hague, Rotterdam, Antwerp and Brussels.

Scandinavia and the Northern Lights at night

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Nasa

Taken in April 2015 this shows southern Scandinavia just before midnight under a full moon, with the curvature of Earth illuminated by a green aurora.

Another striking image, taken in April 2015, shows southern Scandinavia just before midnight under a full moon, with the curvature of Earth illuminated by a green aurora.

The dark patches in the lower right are the Baltic Sea and the lights carve out the coastline of the Skagerrak and Kattegat seaway. The largest light clusters on this seaway are from Oslo and Copenhagen.

The sun’s glint beams off the Celebes Sea

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Nasa

Part of the ISS solar array is shown as it soars 255 miles above Indonesia and captures the sun's glint beaming off the Celebes Sea in southeast Asia.

Part of the International Space Station’s solar array is shown as it soars 255 miles above Indonesia and captures the sun's glint beaming off the Celebes Sea in southeast Asia.

The solar arrays, connected to the station by its truss structure, turn solar energy into electricity via thousands of cells made from purified chunks of silicon. When the station is in sunlight, approximately 60 per cent of the electricity being generated by the solar arrays is diverted to charging the station’s batteries. Then, when the station is in the shade, these batteries provide enough energy to power.

Utah’s Great Salt Lake’s colours captured by the ISS

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Nasa

The International Space Station has also revealed how our planet’s most striking geological features appear from space.

Beyond showcasing how the Earth looks from afar, the International Space Station has also revealed how our planet’s most striking geological features appear from space.

For example, Utah's Great Salt Lake is seen here, captured as the station orbited 255 miles above the southwestern United States in June 2019. As its name suggests, the lake is heavily salinated and the concentration levels of salt in different parts of the lake give it its distinct colours. In particular, the line that divides the north from the south is the Lucin Cutoff, a series of trestles that were built as a railroad shortcut at the start of the century before being closed in the 1950s and replaced with a rock and dirt causeway. This causeway impedes the flow of water between the two sides of the lake and the only microbes that can survive in the higher salt levels of the north side are red and pink, resulting in the bright colour of the water.

Eye of Sahara

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Nasa

From 255 miles up, the crew of the ISS took this image of the Richat Structure, also known as the Eye of the Sahara or the Eye of Africa.

In this image, taken at an altitude of 255 miles as the International Space Station orbited above northwestern Mauritania, an Expedition 59 crewmember photographed the Richat Structure, also known as the Eye of the Sahara or the Eye of Africa.

These rings, carved into the Saharan desert, are not visible from Earth because they stretch 25 miles across. In fact, scientists didn’t know the full scale of its existence until early space missions in the 1960s and there is still debate about what caused the structure.

Nile River Delta in Egypt pictured beneath the SpaceX Dragon resupply mission

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Nasa

In August 2019, this image was snapped showing the SpaceX Dragon ship docking with the ISS's Harmony module as part of the CRS-18 resupply mission.

As the space station flew 260 miles above the Nile River Delta in Egypt in August 2019, its external cameras caught the SpaceX Dragon ship docking with the International Space Station's Harmony module as part of the CRS-18 resupply mission.

This mission delivered more than 5,000lbs of science and research equipment, crew supplies and vehicle hardware. It collected and returned a number of systems no longer needed onboard, such as an air quality monitor that needs to be refurbished.

Orbital sunrise

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NASA/Shane Kimbrough

This one is extra special as it shows the first time the rays from the sun reflected off the ISS Roll-Out Solar Array.

Astronauts aboard the ISS see plenty of sunrises, but this one is extra special as it shows the first time the rays from the sun reflected off the ISS Roll-Out Solar Array.

This array is a new addition to the station. It's a system designed to give the station more power with solar panels designed to make the most of the station's position above our planet.