# Amazing Pictures From The ISS by Astronaut Col Wheelock (USMA 1983) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 15, 2010, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-pictures-from-the-iss-by-astronaut-col-wheelock-usma-1983/564230 "2010-12-15T13:33:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-pictures-from-the-iss-by-astronaut-col-wheelock-usma-1983/564230/1 "2010-12-15T13:33:11Z")
These are some of the best pictures I’ve ever seen of Earth from space, as well as some great pics of the shuttle, on board the space station, etc. Cool! 🙂 [http://triggerpit.com/2010/11/22/incredible-pics-nasa-astronaut-wheelock/](http://triggerpit.com/2010/11/22/incredible-pics-nasa-astronaut-wheelock/) ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-pictures-from-the-iss-by-astronaut-col-wheelock-usma-1983/564230/2 "2010-12-15T13:47:28Z")
Some awesome pics there, and the guy captioned them well, too. How long now until we go back to space, since the shuttle is now kaput? ---
**Author:** ![BoBettie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@BoBettie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoBettie)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-pictures-from-the-iss-by-astronaut-col-wheelock-usma-1983/564230/3 "2010-12-15T13:56:42Z")
No one probably cares, but I went to school with Doug Wheelock and his siblings and he used to deliver my newspaper. Small world! His family all still lives about a mile from my parents in NY. It was fun being on his Twitter feed during his time up there, he sent back astounding pictures. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-pictures-from-the-iss-by-astronaut-col-wheelock-usma-1983/564230/4 "2010-12-15T13:57:15Z")
Wow. This guy has a photographer’s eye and a real sense of perspective. “The Earth is a raging explosion of life in a vast sea of darkness.” ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-pictures-from-the-iss-by-astronaut-col-wheelock-usma-1983/564230/5 "2010-12-15T14:07:16Z")
A man in a candy store. Fantastic pics, I especially enjoyed the South American mountain and looking down on Greece as would a Hellenistic god. ---
**Author:** ![Santos\_L\_Halper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/santos_l_halper/32/1_2.png) [@Santos\_L\_Halper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santos_L_Halper)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-pictures-from-the-iss-by-astronaut-col-wheelock-usma-1983/564230/6 "2010-12-15T16:02:02Z")
Those are fantastic photos. > [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > How long now until we go back to space, since the shuttle is now kaput? We’re not going to stop going into space after the Shuttle retires - crews will have to be regularly transported to and from the International Space Station. In the short term it’ll be via the Russian Soyuz spacecraft, then in a few years (hopefully) via Orion (being developed by Lockheed Martin) or Dragon (being developed by SpaceX). ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-pictures-from-the-iss-by-astronaut-col-wheelock-usma-1983/564230/7 "2010-12-15T16:39:30Z")
The real takeaway from these pictures is that there’s an island shaped like Zorro’s hat. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-pictures-from-the-iss-by-astronaut-col-wheelock-usma-1983/564230/8 "2010-12-15T16:47:38Z")
My sister applied to be a (Canadian) astronaut. She was turned down. She said that they told her that there was ‘no need for poets in space’. I think they were wrong. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-pictures-from-the-iss-by-astronaut-col-wheelock-usma-1983/564230/9 "2010-12-15T17:02:50Z")
He must be getting some serious encouragement from NASA to do this; one of those pictures notes that it was taken with a 1200 mm lens; there’s only one regular production 1200 mm lens and it weighs more than thirty pounds and costs nearly $100,000. I don’t think that would fit in whatever his regular allowance for personal items is. Stunning work. Beautiful colors. ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-pictures-from-the-iss-by-astronaut-col-wheelock-usma-1983/564230/10 "2010-12-15T17:03:02Z")
Is there a way to get larger versions of any of those photos? Clicking on them doesn’t seem to bring anything else up. ---
**Author:** ![Santos\_L\_Halper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/santos_l_halper/32/1_2.png) [@Santos\_L\_Halper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santos_L_Halper)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-pictures-from-the-iss-by-astronaut-col-wheelock-usma-1983/564230/11 "2010-12-15T20:38:33Z")
> [@Mach Tuck](#): > > Is there a way to get larger versions of any of those photos? Clicking on them doesn’t seem to bring anything else up. There’s a larger version of the first photo [here](http://i.imgur.com/9upm4.jpg). It looks like he’s got [photos here too](http://twitpic.com/photos/Astro_Wheels). These you can click on to get large versions. ---
**Author:** ![Santos\_L\_Halper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/santos_l_halper/32/1_2.png) [@Santos\_L\_Halper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santos_L_Halper)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-pictures-from-the-iss-by-astronaut-col-wheelock-usma-1983/564230/12 "2010-12-15T20:44:41Z")
And if you do a google image search on his name you can find other large photos.