NASA astronaut Don Pettit has shared a striking video of an aurora that he captured from the International Space Station (ISS) during his most recent mission.
Auroras are natural light displays in Earth’s sky, caused by charged particles from the solar wind colliding with atoms and molecules in the upper atmosphere. While astronauts on the orbital facility are frequently treated to these amazing displays, most of them are green in color. But this one features a strong red element, too:
Red auroras of this size and vibrancy are rare, occurring 2-3 times during a six month mission to the International Space Station. pic.twitter.com/5zdXOk5gMs
“Red auroras of this size and vibrancy are rare, occurring 2-3 times during a six month mission to the International Space Station,” Pettit wrote in a comment accompanying the video, which he posted on Sunday.
Green auroras mostly appear at lower altitudes of around 62-124 miles (100-200 kilometers), while the red color appears at higher altitudes above 124 miles (200 kilometers). The red color is less common and occurs as the result of specific atmospheric conditions.
While auroras can also be seen from the ground, the red color that’s seen from the ISS 250 miles up is unlikely to appear as such a strong red to those watching from terra firma.
Pettit once famously described the dramatic appearance of a red aurora as, “The sun goes burp and the atmosphere turns red,” a humorous phrase that perfectly captures how a powerful burst of solar activity can suddenly transform Earth’s atmosphere into a brilliant red glow.
Pettit, who at 70 years old is NASA’s oldest serving astronaut, has been to orbit four times throughout his ongoing career (yes, he wants to fly to space again). Over the years, the American astronaut has built a reputation for his impressive photography and video captures from the space station.
Digital Trends marked the end of his most recent mission by gathering together his best work from the preceding seven months. Do take a moment to check it out.
After 13 suborbital test flights and more than $15 billion in development costs, SpaceX's Starship has finally reached orbit. The 407-foot megarocket, the most powerful ever built, lifted off from Starbase, Texas, on Monday and delivered its first real payload on it's 14th attempt. The celebration came with an asterisk, though, since SpaceX had to cut the planned 10-hour mission to roughly three hours.
https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/2104601695711904180
SpaceX is finally ready to give Starship its biggest test yet. The company says the massive rocket's 14th test flight is scheduled for September 22, when it will attempt to put the upper stage into Earth orbit for the first time. The launch is currently pending regulatory approval, with a 75-minute window opening at 7:15 a.m. CT.
Starship has 26 Starlink satellites to deliver
For decades, humanity has looked up at the Moon and wondered what it would be like to live on it. Think sprawling cities, factories, research centers, and permanent human settlements. Unfortunately, there is one fairly fundamental problem with that vision.
A new study published in Frontiers in Space Technologies argues that even the Moon's potentially enormous reserves of frozen water may be nowhere near enough to support city-sized populations sustainably. Researchers Martin Elvis and Jonathan McDowell estimate that the permanently shadowed regions near the lunar poles could contain roughly one billion tons of water. It sounds like an extraordinary amount until you put a million thirsty humans next to it.