The first-ever Instagram photo was beamed down from space by an astronaut in the International Space Station, Space.com reported.
Captured in the station's cupola, NASA astronaut Steve Swanson posted a selfie near a large, multi-sided window that faces Earth.
Posted on April 7 on the station's Instagram account (ISS), the photo has gone viral and garnered nearly 4,000 "likes," according to Space.com.
"Back on the ISS, life is good," Swanson wrote in an image caption. The veteran astronaut flew to space before during two previous space shuttle missions.
Two more photos have been beamed from the station since Monday. While one shows the northern lights glowing green above Europe, the other portrays Swanson going through some medical testing aboard the orbiting outpost on April 9.
"Astronauts have a history of social media use while in space," Space.com reported.
The first person to use Twitter in space was NASA's Mike Massimino. He posted, "Launch was awesome!! I am feeling great, working hard, & enjoying the magnificent views, the adventure of a lifetime has begun!" from his account @Astro_Mike in 2009.
"Since then, other astronauts have followed suit. Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield sent informational videos and tweets down from the station during his time onboard," Spce.com reported. "He even made a music video using David Bowie's 'Space Oddity' that gained popularity after it was posted right before he flew back to Earth."
New science discoveries, launch information and space history photos are featured in NASA's recently launched instagram account.
"We're constantly looking to expand our social media portfolio to include tools that will best tell NASA's story of exploration and discovery," said NASA spokesperson Lauren Worley said in a statement in September 2013. "Instagram has a passionate following of users who are hungry for new and exciting photos."
Check out Swanson's Instagram account here: https://instagram.com/iss.
