The Alfonso Cuaron film 'Gravity' has won a total of seven awards at the Oscars. Calling it a perfect timing, NASA released a set of photos, 'Real Life Photos From Space', before the Oscars awards show.

Paying homage to the film, NASA released many photos taken from orbit, including breathtaking images of Earth, spacewalks carried out by astronauts, satellite deployments and photos of astronauts and spacecraft.

One of the best images is of Cairo, Egypt. It was taken 220 miles above the Earth's atmosphere from space. The photo shows the splash of evening lights of city spread out along the Nile River with a beautiful contrast of the Sahara's dunes.

"I was pleased to have the movie show something that we actually do on the space station", said NASA astronaut Cady Coleman, a crew member of Expedition 26.

There are many ways the photographs pay tribute to the movie. The photograph of an astronaut wearing a jet pack, which was exactly the same seen in the movie. Another image showed city lights from space. All these images remind how well the movie has revealed about life in outer space.

The movie has perfectly shown the silence and beauty of space giving the movie viewers a chance to watch that is generally reserved for astronauts. The producers of the movie have taken great pains in showing things that are generally seen in real life space missions.

Efforts have been made by the director to ensure that the movie looks as realistic as it could. A lot of research was involved during the movie making process. It can be known by the fact that research about growing plants in space has been shown in movie.

Coleman said in space they are forced to grow things in alternative ways. Growing plants in dirt is not always a feasible option. Seven awards won by Gravity are for best director, best visual effects, best cinematography, best original score, best sound mixing, best film editing and best sound editing.