Astronauts on Twitter, Print-On-Demand Publishing, and Internet Retailing Converge to Bring Space Station Prints to Holiday Gift Giving.

Online, November 23, 2010 (Newswire.com) - Louisville, Ky. They were Tweeted from space to the approval of 70,000 followers. They were formatted by Kentucky-based Print-On-Demand publisher Aviation Heritage Press. Today, the fine art prints based on the photographs taken in space last week went live at Internet retailing sites zazzle.com, lulu.com and fineartamerica.com. Welcome to tomorrow.

"This is our most unusual product launch ever," said Aviation Heritage Press Publisher Douglas Keeney. "International Space Station Astronaut Douglas Wheelock has been Tweeting images from space to the delight of tens of thousands followers. Commander Wheelock's images were the first of a new generation of nighttime panoramic photos of Earth. They were shot through the new observation blister on the International Space Station called the Cupola." Keeney, who at the time was more than two years into the development of a book featuring the images of Earth at night began to follow Wheelock. By late September, Wheelock's follows had grown to more than 40,000 when his photos of the Nile and Italy suddenly went viral. "That was our cue to move," said Keeney. "The book will be out in fall and will be nothing less than an inspiring portrait of Earth but we wanted to see if we could give fans of these views a product for this holiday season."

The full collection of items went live today through Internet retailers zazzle.com, lulu.com and Fineartamerica.com. "That's about 10 days from outer space to retail."

Despite the incredible technologies of space exploration, nighttime photos of Earth have largely remained a hit-or-miss proposition. The new Cupola provides the astronauts with a 50-yard line view of the universe.