international space station
The U.S. and Russia have confirmed they will fund the International Space Station until 2024. New comments from the Russian space agency now support the countries will collaborate on a new space station. Reuters/NASA/Handout

NASA astronaut Nick Hague of the International Space Station (ISS) recently released a stunning time-lapse video of the station as it passes over Earth. The clip is a condensed version of the station’s orbit around the planet.

According to NASA, the video, which was shared on YouTube, features 30 minutes’ worth of material that was condensed into 58 seconds. Since the ISS spends approximately 93 minutes in orbit, the footage shows about one-third of the station’s daily voyage.

The space agency noted that the images in the video show the station as it flies over the Pacific to the Atlantic. Hague, the astronaut who captured the footage, said on Twitter that he felt mesmerized by what he saw.

“Took a moment to capture the beauty of our planet today,” he said. “I was awestruck as I watched the wispy clouds disappear into the shadows.”

The time-lapse video of the ISS’ orbit around Earth is the latest stunning image shared by astronauts currently aboard the station. On May 21, NASA’s Christina Koch posted a photo of Earth showing the transition between night and day.

In Koch’s photo, the shadow over the planet can be seen creeping back as it gives way to daylight.

Traveling at an average speed of 27,700 kilometers per hour, the ISS completes around 15.5 orbits around the Earth each day. This means the astronauts aboard the station get to see at least 15 complete sunsets every 24 hours.

Given this unique schedule, it doesn’t come as a surprise that astronauts are able to capture stunning images of Earth from space. Hopefully, they’ll still be able to share more beautiful images of the planet during their stay on the station.

Hague and Koch both flew to the ISS on March 14 through the Soyuz MS-12 along with Russian cosmonaut Aleksey Ovchinin as part of Expedition 59. The trio will take over Expedition 60 in July following the departure of Russian Commander Oleg Kononenko, David Saint-Jacques of the Canadian Space Agency and NASA’s Anne McClain.

Hague and Ovchinin are expected to return to Earth in October while Koch mission at the station has been extended to February 2020.

International Space Station
The Soyuz MS-03 crew ship (foreground) and the Progress 66 cargo craft are pictured as the International Space Station orbits about 250 miles above Earth, May 2, 2017. NASA
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