Moments in time, forever preserved—

With today’s launch of Soyuz, there are now a record 19 people in Earth orbit. What a time to be alive.

NASA astronaut Don Pettit, among a crew of three, has lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 12:23 PM Eastern time this afternoon. He is one of the most storied space creators to have ever been to space.

You’ve undoubtedly had the privilege of coming upon his fantastic space photography If you’ve ever viewed time-lapses of the ISS with the city lights streaming by, the Milky Way on the horizon with the solar panels in the corner of the frame, or the fantastic aurora visible from the orbital outpost.

Don will join NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick in a few hours when they reach the International Space Station (ISS). (The Soyuz spacecraft is taking the two-orbit, ninety-minute rendezvous path to the ISS. Fortunately, this path minimizes the time they spend in the compact Soyuz capsule, which can be quite an experience.)

Dominick, in his first mission aboard the ISS, has made quite a name for himself and begun to share some simply spectacular imagery.

Here are a few of my favorite photos Matthew Dominick has shared, thus far:

Under current plans, Dominick will be in space only a few more weeks, at most. He flew to space in March 2024 aboard the Crew-8 Dragon spacecraft, which currently serves as the lifeboat for him and five of his fellow ISS inhabitants (Crew-8, consisting of a full-complement of four astronauts as well as Butch and Suni, amidst the ongoing saga of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft).

Scheduled to launch on September 24, 2024 at approximately 3 p.m. Eastern Time, Crew-9 Dragon will, for the first time, carry a limited crew of two rotational astronauts instead of four: NASA Astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos Cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov. Upon arrival at the station on September 25, a handover will be conducted, followed by the late-September departure of Matthew Dominick and the Crew-8 Dragon.

But, for around two weeks, talented space communicators and creators in astronauts Dominick and Pettit, will be in space together.

For a small army of Don’s most impressive work, here’s a gallery:

Matthew has been incredibly engaging on social media during his mission this year, often sharing specific camera exposure details and answering detailed questions in the comments of his posts.

As a space launch creator myself, hoping to someday possibly be a space photographer, I couldn’t be more excited about their brief overlap in orbit. It’s an incredible time to be able to engage with these people live and in such an unfiltered manner.

For a regular dose of positivity and wonder, I encourage you to follow them both on Twitter here if you somehow don’t already.

I can’t wait to see what they scheme on photography wise. For now, I’ll just keep sharing my stories here, photos from the ground, and questions on Twitter with them—living vicariously and in awe of their talented escapades in space photography.