• Tagged astronauts, ESA, International Space Station, ISS, NASA, space, travel

We envy the International Space Station astronauts with their window on the world offering breathtaking views of the Earth and of the universe as a whole. Outer space may become the next frontier for vacations. If that becomes a reality, and we can book a space hotel with an eye in the sky overlooking Earth . . . wow, talk about a room with a view! Who would not want to go? We love to stargaze the majestic Milky Way, but crews from the ISS can also planet-gaze down at Earth. We also love NASA images and have looked at the space-walkers and photos captured from the ISS during Endeavor’s last-ever space walk. Granted there are many countries with space programs and spacecraft taking awe-inspiring photos of Earth—so these images were not entirely captured by the ISS—but they made us dream of taking a space vacation. When we see any of these out-of-this-world pictures, we get ISS envy because those space station expedition crews get to live with those magnificent views for extended ‘vacations.’ Here’s a very small but wowza collection of 34 breathtaking pictures of Earth, and of spacecraft approaching the ISS, as well as two incredible videos.

• Tagged astronauts, Endeavour, International Space Station, ISS, NASA, people, photos, pics, space, space shuttle, transportation

Today NASA astronauts completed their final spacewalk, the last ever for Endeavour. During the 16-day mission, Endeavour and its crew completed NASA’s part in the construction of the International Space Station. This was the 36th shuttle mission to the ISS and this was the last spacewalkers that Endeavor will ever carry to space. The crew members for space shuttle Endeavour’s STS-134 mission are Commander Mark Kelly, Pilot Gregory H. Johnson and Mission Specialists Michael Fincke, Greg Chamitoff, Andrew Feustel and European Space Agency astronaut Roberto Vittori. Sadly, we cannot count upon NASA’s astronauts to take any more wowza photos for us. This is the 25th and final flight of Endeavour before the shuttle is retired along with the rest of NASA’s orbiter fleet later in 2011. Thank you NASA, Endeavour STS-134 mission astronauts and ISS astronauts for your bravery and amazing photographs. We love these pics! [46 Photos]