Pale Blue Haiku

Traveling at more than 17,000 miles per hour, the crew currently aboard the International Space Station (Expedition 38) is comprised of one commander and five flight engineers – and one of those engineers is writing haiku as he orbits Earth.

Koichi Wakata, an engineer and a member of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, has recently started to tweet a series of Earth-inspired haiku from his Twitter account. Accompanied by photos, it's an opportunity to read compelling poems from an extraordinary perspective.

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According to his official bio, Wakata will be the first Japanese astronaut to command the ISS during the next mission, Expedition 39.

Does that also make him the first flight engineer and Japanese commander to tweet haiku from the ISS?

#Spacehaiku : The blue thin atmosphere and the darkness of space decorating the rising moon Tweet your #haiku! pic.twitter.com/nz6P8HUEQc
— Koichi Wakata (@Astro_Wakata) January 25, 2014

#Spacehaiku At dawn in January Faintly appear Noctilucent clouds Tweet your #haiku! pic.twitter.com/duXXkNJy1T
— Koichi Wakata (@Astro_Wakata) January 19, 2014

Space #haiku Shadows of winter clouds run over the ocean just before sunset Tweet your haiku! pic.twitter.com/7ylka2VIwe
— Koichi Wakata (@Astro_Wakata) January 9, 2014