In addition to looking heavenward, different space agencies help the world see the Earth in ways no one else can. Astronauts/cosmonauts on board the International Space Station take the unique photographs of our home planet apart from their own job to be done. Here are some of the best Images of Mt Everest (8848 m), by the people living and working onboard the International Space Station.

The perspective is illustrated by the summits of Makalu [left (8,462 meters; 27,765 feet)] and Everest [right (8,850 meters; 29,035 feet)] – at the heights typically flown by commercial aircraft.

The name of photographer is  still unknown as NASA doesn’t disclose it. This picture was taken by ISS expedition 13 crew. If you want to see the annotated version, here is one by famous climber, mountain blogger Alan Arnette.

One under-appreciated space asset is the photography skills of the Russian cosmonauts on board the International Space Station. They are extremely skillful photographers who don’t get the same recognition as their astronaut counterparts in their Earth observation skills. In particular, they have taken some stunning high-oblique shots of objects close to the horizon, with almost an 3-D effect.

The picture is taken from the north-east, Tibetan, side of the mountain, looking over the Kharta Valley at the Kangshung Face. The northern half of the photo is Nepal’s Khumbu Valley, which looks surprisingly low and flat. The annotation of this photograph was posted by Mark Horrell in his blog.

Below is another view, taken by Russian cosmonaut Sergey Rryazanskiy.

There are thousands of photographs of Mt Everest taken by cosmonauts/astronauts as they fly high above the mountain.