Station Astronauts Capture Stunning Views of U.S., Canada, Northern Lights

Michael Curie
Headquarters, Washington

James Hartsfield

Johnson Space Center, Houston

HOUSTON -- Astronauts aboard the International Space Station recently filmed what is among the most spectacular night imagery ever taken from space of the United States. The video, comprised of hundreds of sequential still images, will air on NASA Television's video file beginning today.

The imagery also is available on the internet at NASA's Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov.

Taken between Jan. 29-Feb. 3, the images show a continent ablaze with light, from the electric glow of hundreds of cities to a spectacular aurora borealis flickering on the northern horizon. The video includes flights above Mexico showing the entire Gulf Coast and continuing the length of the East Coast. Other video capture scenes from Brownsville, Texas, to the Great Lakes and above the St. Lawrence Seaway. Still another sequence begins in the western U.S. and continues across the Great Plains.

New imagery also shows the aurora during flights above Canada. The imagery was taken using a still camera aboard the station, orbiting 240 miles above Earth. For more about the International Space Station, visit http://www.nasa.gov/station.

For NASA Television schedules, downlink information and streaming video, visit http://www.nasa.gov/ntv.

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