Aerial view of Skanderbeg Square in Tirana, lit with Christmas decorations and surrounded by an open Christmas market on December 29, 2021. (Photo by Gent Shkullaku/AFP Photo)

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.

Aerial view of tourists in life vests and rubber rafts in the Grand Canyon of western Henan, Sanmenxia, China on August 5, 2017. (Photo by Imaginechina/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

The aerial view shows three uprooted trees at a road near Hildesheim, Germany Friday, October 6, 2017. Seven people died Thursday as high winds knocked over trees and caused widespread travel chaos in northern Germany. (Photo by Julian Stratenschulte/DPA via AP Photo)

Aerial view of a boat working in the green water of Taihu Lake covered by blue-green algae, Wuxi city, Jiangsu province, China on May 23, 2018. (Photo by Imaginechina/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Hundreds of flamingos take flight in the Rift Valley in East Africa early September 2024. The birds gather in the region’s saline lakes to eat the blue-green algae that grows in abundance. The red-orange pigment in the algae is what gives them their distinctive pink plumage. They also use the site to breed. (Photo by Alexandre and Chloe Bes/Naturagency/Solent News)

Aerial photo shows a colorful metasequoia forest at Hongze Lake wetland scenic spot in Suqian, East China's Jiangsu province, November 3, 2024. (Photo by CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images)

An aerial view shows a packed parking lot at Citadel Outlets in Commerce, Calif., Thursday, November 28, 2024, as early Black Friday shoppers arrive at the mall. (Photo by Jae C. Hong/AP Photo)