NASA astronaut Don Pettit talks photography from the space station

NASA astronaut Don Pettit arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) in September on his fourth orbital mission in 22 years. Besides working on various science projects on the space-based facility, Pettit is also known for his keen interest in photography, and regularly shares his impressive efforts — including rivers, clouds, star trails, and high-speed spacecraft — on X and Instagram.

Pettit — at 69 NASA’s oldest serving astronaut — has just taken some time out of his busy schedule to chat about his photography.

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“Images from space help tell the story to people on Earth that don’t have the opportunity to go into space,” Pettit said when asked about why he enjoys taking photos from 250 miles above Earth. He said that alongside the memories of his orbital adventures, “the photographs help complete the story of what it means for human beings to expand into space and expand into this frontier.”

Asked about his recent imagery showing glinting Starlink satellites that he described as looking like “cosmic fireflies,” Pettit said it took a while to work out the origin of the flashes that they were seeing (it was the sun reflecting off the satellites) before he decided to photograph and document the phenomenon.

Pettit also noted how updates to the ISS’s camera equipment over the years have changed the way he photographs, and how platforms like X and Instagram let him more easily share his work compared to when he first traveled to orbit in the early 2000s.

Commenting on how microgravity conditions affect his photography, Pettit showed off a heavy-looking 800mm telephoto lens that he described as “a joy” to work with. Why? Because in space, it weighs hardly anything, so he’s able to handle it with ease. “There are many things we can do up here that would make many photographers envious when they’re they’re mounting their heavy gear on these these tripods,” Pettit said.

The American astronaut also talked about capturing images from the space station’s seven-window Cupola module, and discussed his barn door tracker invention that allows him to take sharper images of city lights thanks to the tool’s ability to compensates for the ISS’s movement relative to the Earth’s surface.

On the subject of his amazing photo showing SpaceX’s Starship rocket launching on its sixth test flight from Texas last month, Pettit put it down to “dumb luck” for being in the right place at the right time, adding that if the launch had been delayed by 20 minutes, he wouldn’t have been able to see it at all.

Once he knew that the station was going to be passing over SpaceX’s launch site, Pettit said it was “just a question of knowing how to use your your photography equipment, which lens to use, what kind of shutter speeds, exposures, ISO, that kind of stuff.” He also gave a shoutout to fellow NASA astronaut Suni Williams, who he said acted as his spotter by pointing out the launch as Pettit was setting up his camera.

For more insights into Pettit’s brilliant photographic work aboard the ISS, check out the entire 20-minute interview in the video at the top of this page.