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Glimpsing National Parks From The International Space Station

Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks as photographed from space by NASA astronaut Megan McArthur
Megan McArthur

News Brief

A U.S. astronaut on the International Space Station has recently launched a new project. Megan McArthur is photographing the West’s iconic national parks. She grew up visiting places like Yosemite, Grand Canyon and Zion – and now she’s shooting them from 250 miles above the surface of Earth.

“These are amazing, breathtaking places,” she said during an interview with NASA TV on Friday. “Also, [I’m] seeing parks I haven’t been to before and thinking, ‘Oh wow, that looks amazing. I really want to go there and learn about that environment.'”

McArthur plans to create a portfolio of photos when she returns. Right now she’s taking shots of parks including Zion and Yellowstone and posting them to Twitter.

She’s also taking photos of wildfires in the West.

This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, the O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West in Montana, KUNC in Colorado, KUNM in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Copyright 2021 Boise State Public Radio News. To see more, visit Boise State Public Radio News.

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Nate is UM School of Journalism reporter. He reads the news on Montana Public Radio three nights a week.
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