HD Space Video: Astronauts' 1080p Tour of Earth's Striking Landscapes

In the HD space video posted by Space Rip, Dr. Justin Wilkinson from NASA's astronaut team takes viewers through the stunning footage by describing those places special to astronauts whenever they get a chance to sit back and enjoy the view.

The smooth talking Wilkinson quickly shows he could have a second career as a Bob Ross-esque PBS painter as he describes the amazing art of Earth unfolding under a canvas of clouds instead of describing how to paint happy little trees.

Somebody give the man a paint brush, TV show contract and let him paint happy little spaceships.

The compiled video tour starts off with a flyover of the coast of Namibia. Wilkinson says astronauts think Namibia is one most beautiful sites a person can see when flying.

The video continues with views of Sicily and Italy, the coast of the Kamchatka peninsula and its volcanoes, China's snowy Qindoa Peninsula, Iran's Zagros mountains, the North Coast of Australia, Utah's Great Salt Lake, possibly Texas's Big Bend area, Florida and the Keys followed by the Bahama Island and Cuba.

The Northern Coast of Chile makes an appearance along with the Andes Mountains.

The video of Earth from space finishes with a view of a thunderhead over the Amazon Basin.

Impressive. While space tourism is likely to start at around $200,000 per person for a sub-orbital flight on Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo, (which just made its first feathered flight) one can only imagine that after more people get a chance to see these HD space video views for real, there might be a bigger push for space travel as leisure or adventure activities for tourists.