“The Last Pollen Spore Preparing to Leave a Ladybug Trying to Hold On, Because It Didn't Want to Be Alone”. Photo by Hiep Nguyen Hoang (Hanoi, Vietnam). Photographed in Hanoi, Vietnam, April 2012.

“Can't wait”. Location: Inao Station (JR Oito-Line), Nagano Prefecture, Japan. (Photo by AZURE)

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.

BAZ-69092-012 special wheeled chassis. Exhibition of military vehicles at Bronnitsy test range (a town in Moscow Oblast, Russia, located 54.5 kilometers (33.9 mi) southeast of central Moscow). Juny 10, 2011. (Photo by Vitaly Kuzmin)

Judson Huss (8 May 1942 – 25 July 2008), born Clifford Judson Huss, was an American-born painter and sculptor of fantastic art. Photo: Judson Huss – “Summer” (please click to enlarge).

North Kenya, Liboi. A young Somali refugee crosses a field filled with marabous storks in July 1992. (Photo by Jean-Claude Coutausse)

Kashmiri vegetable vendors assemble at a floating market in the interiors of the Dal Lake in Srinagar April 17, 2012. (Photo by Danish Ismail/Reuters)