Stunning time-lapse shared by ‘awestruck’ astronaut reveals the vastness of Earth’s atmosphere as seen from the International Space Station
- A video from the ISS captures a journey from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean
- The timelapse condenses 30 minutes into just one minute aboard the station
- Astronaut Nick Hague said he was ‘awestruck’ watching clouds disappear
A high-flying timelapse of the International Space Station sends viewers on a stunning trip from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic in just 60 seconds.
In the video taken by NASA astronaut Nick Hague, about 30 minutes of orbit time aboard the ISS — or a third of the time the station takes to complete one full rotation around the planet — takes place over just a minute, capturing the enormity of Earth’s atmosphere.
‘I was awestruck as I watched the wispy clouds disappear into the shadows,’ said Hague on Twitter.
Hague boarded the station on March 14 and is set to return from his six-month trip into space in October.
According to him, outside of the seemingly boundless beauty of Earth’s atmosphere, he has witnessed other, more personal, phenomenon during his time on the station.
‘[Two] months into my stay on [the ISS]! What’s it like adjusting to life in space? My back stretched out due to lack of gravity [and] I’m now [two] inches taller,’ reported Hague on Twitter.
‘Fluid shifts make me feel a bit stuffy, [and] the tops of my feet now have calluses since we use them like hands on handrails.’
Hague’s journey may be awe-inspiring from the vantage of the astronaut’s timelapse, but the mission’s attempted launch last year was anything but.
Last year, Hague and fellow astronaut Alexey Ovchinin had to abruptly eject from the rocket due to anomalies with the ship’s booster.
‘We were violently shaken side to side, thrust back into our seats as the launch escape system ripped us away from the rocket,’ said Hague in a NASA statement.
‘As all of that’s happening, you’re being shaken around, vision is blurry. I hear the alarm sounding and see the red light where the engine has had an emergency. I had the vivid realization we aren’t making it to orbit today, we’ve been pulled off rocket and we have to land.’
The astronauts tumbled back down through Earth’s atmosphere and escaped their harrowing trip safely without either of the astronauts being seriously harmed.
Over the next several months, the astronauts will conduct a range of experiments on the use of robotic assistants called Astrobees, advanced biomedical chips, and more.
WHAT IS THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION?
The International Space Station (ISS) is a $100 billion (£80 billion) science and engineering laboratory that orbits 250 miles (400 km) above Earth.
It has been permanently staffed by rotating crews of astronauts and cosmonauts since November 2000.
Research conducted aboard the ISS often requires one or more of the unusual conditions present in low Earth orbit, such as low-gravity or oxygen.
ISS studies have investigated human research, space medicine, life sciences, physical sciences, astronomy and meteorology.
The US space agency, Nasa, spends about $3 billion (£2.4 billion) a year on the space station program, a level of funding that is endorsed by the Trump administration and Congress.
A U.S. House of Representatives committee that oversees Nasa has begun looking at whether to extend the program beyond 2024.
Alternatively the money could be used to speed up planned human space initiatives to the moon and Mars.
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