Despite any political differences between the United States and Russia, the space agencies of the two countries continue their cooperative work in Earth's orbit, aboard the International Space Station. Apart from the research being done in microgravity, ISS crew members continue to send back amazing images of our home world, photographed from low Earth orbit. Gathered here are recent images of Earth from aboard the ISS, and from a handful of other NASA satellites.

Macro or Micro? Scientists’ pictures baffle our sense of scale. It began when Stephen Young, a geography professor at Salem State University in Massachusetts, tricked his biologist colleague Paul Kelly into thinking a satellite image was one of his electron microscope scans. Can you guess whether they are close-up or very far away? (Photo by Paul Kelly)

“These are the stunning images of some of Americas most breathtaking churches – all of which are abandoned. Matthew Christopher travels around the United States taking shots of its most beautiful decaying wonders. He shot those in his churches series in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he works as a photographer and lecturer. Matthew’s fascination with such abandoned spaces started when he was a child when he enjoyed looking at artwork set in buildings that have since decayed”. – Caters News. Photo: St. Boniface Church, Philadelphia Pa. (Photo by Matthew Christopher/Caters News)

North Korea has closed its borders in fear of the spread of the Ebola virus. But at a time when the secretive state was still welcoming tourists, former aid worker Andrew Macleod made the journey to the repressive nation. Andrew's holiday snaps and camera footage provide a unique insight into the reclusive country, where he came across deserted motorways, metro stations plastered with propaganda and attractive border guards. Here: a female traffic police officer in the snow in February 2013, in Pyongyang, North Korea. (Photo by Andrew Macleod/Barcroft Media)

An Indian student warms up during the 44th Samartha Summer Sports Coaching Camp organized by Shree Samarth Vyayam Mandir in Mumbai, India, 25 April 2018. Mallakhamba arose in the western state of Maharashtra centuries ago. It was originally practiced by wrestlers and soldiers as a strength training exercise. (Photo by Divyakant Solanki/EPA/EFE)

Full-time feline photographer Andrew Marttila from Washington, D.C., captured blissful expressions of various cats on catnip, which he used to compile a book, “Cats on Catnip”. The photographer dedicated his time to capturing the euphoric expressions of kitties high on catnip – and the results are absolutely hilarious. (Photo by Andrew Marttila/Caters News Agency)

Volunteers wearing face masks, gloves and protective gear to protect against coronavirus, gather to clean an area of an outdoor book market set up at Red Square with GUM, State Department store, left, St. Basil's Cathedral, center, Spasskaya Tower, second with, and the Kremlin Wall, right, in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, June 6, 2020. Muscovites clad in face masks and gloves ventured into Red Square for an outdoor book market, a small sign of the Russian capital's gradual efforts to open up amid coronavirus concerns. (Photo by Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP Photo)

Aerial view over mud and waste from the disaster caused by dam spill in Brumadinho, Minas Gerais, Brazil, 26 January 2019. At least nine people have died and 300 are missing after a tailings dam burst at the Feijao mine in southeastern Brazil owned by Vale, the world's largest iron-ore producer, the Minas Gerais state government said. The dam in Brumadinho near Belo Horizonte broke on 25 January at around mid-day, unleashing a river of sludge that destroyed some nearby houses. (Photo by Antonio Lacerda/EPA/EFE)