Astronaut Scott Kelly shares photos of Texas shot from space

See what different spots around the globe look like from space. See what different spots around the globe look like from space. Photo: Chron Photo: Chron Image 1 of / 96 Caption Close Astronaut Scott Kelly shares photos of Texas shot from space 1 / 96 Back to Gallery

Scott Kelly found a pretty special vantage point to photograph the Lone Star State. He was 250 miles above the Earth in the International Space Station when he took these shots.

From down here on the ground, the stars at night are big and bright in Texas, but from the sky, it's city lights that decorate the state. Three giant Texas metropolises glow in the view from the space station, with even the I-35 corridor between San Antonio and Austin lit and visible from space.

Kelly is one of two astronauts who recently embarked for one of the longest space mission to date: one year in orbit. He's joined by Russian Mikhail Kornienko. Among other mission objectives, researchers hope to observe the two astronauts' long-term reactions to extraterrestrial conditions to further develop plans for manned missions to deeper parts of the solar system.

PHOTOS: The Earth as Art: Beautiful photos of our planet seen from space

Concerns include the astronauts' physical health after months in zero gravity, their emotional health in prolonged isolation and their mental health as they grapple with unvaried experiences and boredom. Now ten days in space, Kelly is taking to twitter to bridge the multi-hundred mile gap between himself and most of humanity.

He's tweeted space views of the Earth. Of his orbital pictures to date, a shot of Texas drew the most attention, with more than 3,000 retweets. But Kelly also shared shimmering nighttime photos of southern Florida and Los Angeles, and a daytime picture of Australian desert that looks like spilled paint from space.

Kelly and Kornienko lifted off aboard a Soyuze spacecraft on March 27 from the old Soviet launch site of Baikonur. After the mission, Kelly will be the first American to spend a year in space. You can follow him on twitter to get pictures and updates from life beyond Earth.

Check out our slideshow to see Kelly's shots, plus other mesmerizing photos taken from the great beyond.