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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Science
Shivali Best

NASA astronaut snaps photos of Earth from ISS - but Flat Earthers aren't convinced

From their position on the International Space Station , astronauts are treated to a unique view of our planet that most people will never have the chance to see.

The ISS orbits Earth at a height of around 250 miles, meaning the space station makes around 16 trips around Earth every single day.

Now, one NASA astronaut on board the ISS has snapped several stunning photos of our planet, showing the ‘ever-changing skyline’ on the space station.

Jessica Meir tweeted the photos, writing: “The first orientation may make more sense to you, but to me this is the ever-changing skyline on @Space_Station (photo 3). Perspective.

“The constant traffic of visiting vehicles makes for diverse vistas.”

While the Earth is clearly round in the photos, several sceptical viewers aren’t convinced, with many still claiming that our planet is flat.

One user replied: “Nice try with the fish eye, but it’s flat,” while another added: “That’s fish eye lens. Make Earth looks like round. Actually, the earth is flat!”

And one questioned: “So from 400km above the earth you can view the whole round earth? Yeah very believable.”

While these conspiracy theorists are convinced that the Earth is flat, humans have actually known that Earth is round for more than 2,000 years.

What is the flat Earth theory?

NASA explained: “The ancient Greeks measured shadows during summer solstice and also calculated Earth's circumference. They used positions of stars and constellations to estimate distances on Earth.

“They could even see the planet's round shadow on the moon during a lunar eclipse. (We still can see this during lunar eclipses.)”

Today, scientists can use GPS and other satellites to measure Earth’s size and shape to within a centimetre!

NASA added: “Even though our planet is a sphere, it is not a perfect sphere. Because of the force caused when Earth rotates, the North and South Poles are slightly flat.

“Earth's rotation, wobbly motion and other forces are making the planet change shape very slowly, but it is still round.”

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