Oh boy, if you thought selfies are only a phenomenon that happens on terra firma, then Houston, we have a problem: selfies have infiltrated outer space!
Already a member of an elite group that has travelled into space, American astronaut Steven R. Swanson one-upped his pioneering peers by being the first person to post on Instagram while in orbit on Monday. Yes, we repeat, Swanson is credited for being the first astronaut residing in the International Space Station to take and post the first Instagram photo from outer space, and that photo, naturally, is a selfie. The photo was posted to the ISS Instagram account, which was created by Swanson and two Russian cosmonauts back in January. But this photo is actually the first to be shot and posted while in orbit.
The photo shows Swanson, whose first NASA space expedition took place in 2007, floating in the ISS panoramic control tower (called a cupola) with an awe-inspiring view of the Earth’s surface behind him (no filter necessary, thank you very much). While most earthbound selfies can be seen as irritating, you have to admit that this is an exception to the rule, and a cool one at that.
Swanson accompanied the space selfie with the caption, “Back on ISS, life is good.”
Expect more Instagram and other social media posts from ISS very soon (a second one has already been posted, see below), considering the fact that they can access to Wi-Fi while in space. Check out the ISS Instagram account here.
