A hot air balloon competition called “Grudziadzkie Zawody Balonowe” is held in Lisie Katy, central-northern Poland, 14 May 2021. The compe​tition is held for the eighteenth time. (Photo by Tytus Zmijewski/EPA/EFE)

Swimmers in the Sky Pool, a transparent swimming pool suspended 35 meters above ground between two apartment buildings, during hot weather in Nine Elms, central London on Monday, August 12, 2024. (Photo by James Manning/PA Images via Getty Images)

In this photo taken Wednesday, April 30, 2014, a dragonfly sits on the nose of a Gharial, rare crocodile-like creatures, in the River Chambal near Bhopepura village in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The narrow 250-mile stretch of the Chambal is a place of crocodiles and jackals, of river dolphins and the occasional wolf. Hundreds of species of birds, storks, geese, babblers, larks, falcons and so many more, nest along the river. Endangered birds lay small speckled eggs in tiny pits they dig in the sandbars. Gharials, rare crocodile-like creatures that look like they swaggered out of the Mesozoic Era, are commonplace here and nowhere else. (Photo by Altaf Qadri/AP 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.

These snaps capture true winter wonderlands – as Mother Nature's icy grip takes hold of America's National Parks. From snow-capped mountains in Yosemite to an icy still Glacier Bay, the incredible images show their beauty is year round. In other breath-taking shots crisp frost lines the paths through Great Smokey Mountains and Crater Lake has had more than a dusting of snow. Here: Apostle Island National Lakeshore Park in Wisconsin. (Photo by U.S. Department of the Interior/Cater News)

NASA handout photographs from the various Apollo missions are shown in this combination photograph. The photographs are some of more than 12,000 from NASA's archives recently aggregated on the Project Apollo Archive Flickr account. (Top L) David R. Scott, command module pilot, stands in the open hatch of the Command Module during the Apollo 9 mission March 6, 1969. (Top centre) Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin Jr.walks on the surface of the moon during the Apollo 11 mission July 20, 1969. (Top R) Neil Armstrong, Apollo 11 commander, is pictured inside the Lunar Module during the Apollo 11 mission July 20, 1969. (Bottom L) Alan Bean holds a container filled with lunar soil collected during the Apollo 12 mission November 19, 1969. (Bottom centre) Scientist-astronaut Harrison Schmitt rides in the Lunar Roving Vehicle during the Apollo 17 mission December 13, 1972. (Bottom R) Harrison Schmitt stands next to a huge, split boulder during the Apollo 17 mission December 13, 1972. (Photo by Reuters/NASA)

In this April 23, 2015 photo, friends Jia Haixia, left, and Jia Wenqi work to plant a tree in a field in Yeli village near Shijiazhuang city in northern China's Hebei province. For the past 13 years, Jia Wenqi, who has no arms, and Jia Haixia, who is blind, have worked together to plant and water more than 12,000 trees near their village. (Photo by Helene Franchineau/AP Photo)

France's Simon Billy gets ready to practice speed skiing on the Chabriere ski slope in Vars, on March 29, 2017. (Photo by Jean-Pierre Clatot/AFP Photo)