Earth from the International Space Station

© Tim Peake/ESA/NASA via Getty Image

Earth from the International Space Station

On April 12, 1961, astronaut Yuri Gagarin astounded the world by becoming the first person to travel to outer space. In less than two hours, Gagarin completed a full orbit of the Earth after launching the Vostok 3KA spacecraft. Less than a month later, Mercury astronaut Alan Shepard became the first American in space. The spectacle of looking back at Earth from space has not lost its charm, as you can see in this picture taken from the International Space Station. Well, our Mother Earth is a spectacle to behold, not only for those of us walking its grounds every day, but also for the ones who are lucky enough to look at it from a galaxy far, far away!