Sahara from space
© Alex Gerst/NASA/JSC
In 2014, astronaut Alexander Gerst snapped this striking photograph of the Sahara Desert from hundreds of miles away while aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Saharan winds throw dust and sand up into the atmosphere, as well as depositing it into the ocean. The African landscape is almost completely obscured from view because of the power of the sandstorm and bunched-up clouds.