Similar to ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti’s night timelapse over Italy and Egypt but taken during the day, this video takes you on a 30-second journey over Italy, passing Greece while flying over the Mediterranean Sea to follow the Nile and finish at the Indian Ocean.
Looking out from the International Space Station’s Cupola observatory while circling Earth at speeds of 28 800 km/h, the 5500 km flight took Samantha around 12 minutes. Images from a Space Station camera were joined together to create this video and make the flight seem even faster.
The astronauts on the Space Station spend as much time as possible on science. During her 40-hour working week Samantha runs many experiments from Italy’s ASI space agency and ESA, and takes part in even more from scientists all over the world.
Samantha is living and working on board the International Space Station as part of the six-strong Expedition 42 and 43 crew. Follow her Futura mission at http://samanthacristoforetti.esa.int.