NASA Images 2010

The amazing NASA images were taken in orbit up to 286 miles above the planet at speeds of an amazing 17,000mph. 687GEVYSTN2U

The border between France and Italy seen from the International Space Station on April 28, 2010

The Twitchell Canyon Fire, near central Utah's Fishlake National Forest seen on September 20, 2010

Hurricane Earl hovering over the tropical Atlantic Ocean on August 30th

All the images were either shot by handheld cameras or using the ISS's onboard camera - when a crew member spotted an eye-catching scene. One image shows how astronauts on board get the perfect viewpoint from the ISS's cupola, an observatory module with 360-degree view windows.

The aurora taken during a geomagnetic storm that was most likely caused by a coronal mass ejection from the sun over the Southern Indian Ocean on May 24th

Artificial archipelagos including the World and the Palm along the coast of Dubai, United Arab Emirates seen on January 13th

The Gulf of Mexico oil spill seen from the International Space Station on May 4th

Astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson gazing at the view of Earth from a window in the Cupola on the International Space Station in September 2010

As well as the cupola, the ISS has several sideward facing windows and an special porthole designed for Earth photography, which has become a favourite of crew members who use a variety of cameras and lenses.

Egypt (centre) and the Sinai Peninsula (bottom right) at night on October 28th