And now, coming back to Earth...

"NASA scientists have created two new images of Earth as it appears from space, a vista often called the 'Blue Marble,' combining data of the oceans, land surfaces and sea ice taken from many different satellites...

"The new images have combined even more of Earth's features into more complete, higher-resolution images of both the Eastern and Western hemisphere. The data used to create the new images span a longer period of time than the original and have a resolution of 500 meters (1,600 feet), versus the 1,000 meters (3, 273 feet) resolution of the older image."