NASA Astronaut Matthew Dominick shared a fascinating time-lapse of Earth captured from the International Space Station in its final weeks in orbit after a 6-month mission.
X.com parameter url defined
The video shows a large portion of Asia as the ISS flies over it at night at about 400 km altitude. The images capture numerous flashes of lightning over a wide area, bright clusters of city lights and the colored lights of fishing boats, which Dominick describes as “one of my favorite things to see at night from the ISS.”
However, The time-lapse also shows an intense red light which Dominick is unsure of the source. While some commentators have speculated that it could be volcanic activity, others believe it could be from commercial squid fishing boats using powerful red lights to attract prey.
“Those red lights are coming from a huge fleet of fishing boats east of Hokkaido.”
Dominick spent part of his 6 months aboard the space station sharing breathtaking images not only of Earth and space, but also of the interior of the orbital outpost. With the arrival of the SpaceX Crew-9 crew next month, Dominick and his three Crew-8 teammates will return to Earth in October.
The handover between astronauts
While many will feel the missing Dominick’s amazing photos and videos, Don Pettit, who recently arrived on the station, also has a reputation for producing impressive visuals, so space enthusiasts are eagerly awaiting what the veteran astronaut will share in the coming months.
Just the other day, Pettit captured a remarkable shot of the SpaceX spacecraft Polaris Dawn reentering Earth’s atmosphere at high speed after a historic five-day mission.
Images shared by astronauts aboard the ISS offer a unique and fascinating perspective of our planet and the surrounding space, allowing the public to appreciate the beauty and fragility of the Earth seen from space. These sharings also help raise awareness of the importance of space exploration and scientific research conducted on the International Space Station.
Source: www.tomshw.it
