A Japanese astronaut aboard the International Space Station since December has been shooting some incredible images and sending them back to Earth.
Soichi Noguchi, a member of the Soyuz TMA-17 crew and Expedition 22, has sent more than 28 images of the world's major cities and tallest mountains taken from on board the International Space Station more than 200 miles into space. The images have been posted via Twitpic to his Twitter page.
The images below show San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge and a brilliant shot of the Amazon River as it runs through Brazil. See the full gallery for more of Soichi Noguchi's Twitpics from space.

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