After almost a year in space, U.S. astronaut Scott Kelly is coming home.
But not without a few memories. Stunning memories.
While on the International Space Station with Russian astronaut Mikhail Korniyenko, Kelly became a social media sensation thanks to his haunting pictures of planet earth and some of its nearest neighbours.
Kelly was sent up to the ISS last year, as part of a NASA experiment to see how weightlessness affects the body.
It wasn't all hard science, though, with the astronaut posting a funny video of an Ape escape in space video on February 23.
He is expected to return to earth, landing in Kashakstan, on Wednesday morning after spending 340 straight days in space.
From a distance of 400 kilometres from the earths surface, Kelly snapped the planets waterways and hurricanes, uploading the images to Twitter, Tumblr and Instagram.
“At the end of the day, space exploration is all about the human experience. Scott has not only shared his journey with the world, but he has also engaged with the public,” NASA’s social media manager John Yembrick told National Geographic.
“Through Scott’s own efforts, space exploration has become more relatable, more accessible.”
So striking and artistic are Kelly's photographs, National Geographic’s deputy director of photography Patrick Witty said it was hard to believe they were made by an astronaut and not a professional photographer.
“I’m sure every photographer on Earth is incredibly jealous of his angle.”