NASA Astronaut Takes Ultimate Selfie

On Christmas Eve, 2013, United States astronaut Mike Hopkins took the popular act of taking ‘selfies’ to a whole new level. While embarking on what was otherwise a routine space walk, the astronaut, who holds a Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering from Stamford University, took a photograph of himself clad in his pressurized space suit.

Then, when he returned from his sojourn to the relative comfort of his space station home, he used his now free phalanges to post the striking image on twitter.

The selfie, which features the astronaut’s mirror tinted visor set against a serenely glowing backdrop of the boldly blue planet earth.

Contrasting with earth is a sliver of space that gives the whole scene a tiny sense of the immenseness of space. The image is such a powerfully captivating work of art that one wonders if the great photog Art Wolfe had strapped on a space suit of his own just to whip out his Canon 1DS just to capture that moment himself.

Wow…can't believe that is me yesterday. Wish I could find the words to describe the experience, truly amazing pic.twitter.com/FnjM5DLHSg

— Mike Hopkins (@Astro_illini) December 22, 2013

The other astronaut that you see in the reflection of Hopkins’ visor, however, is not a professional photographer. It is astronaut Rick Mastracchio, who was working with Hopkins to replace a pump module on the exterior of the International Space Station.