Launched into orbit in 1998, the International Space Station (ISS) is home to up to six crew members that can be from any of the 17 participating countries from the United States, Japan, Canada, Russia and the European Space Agency. Orbiting at approximately 220 miles above the earth, ISS is intended to be a laboratory, observatory, and factory in a low earth orbit. It takes about 90 minutes for the ISS to orbit the earth.
To encourage and develop a curiosity in children of space activities and to contribute to education in science, math, and technology, crew members often provide interaction with students on Earth in their classrooms via radio and video links.
Being in space certainly provides the astronauts a different perspective of our world. Their excitement to share what they see from above with us down here often contributes videos like this one below created by European Space Agency astronaut Paolo Nespoli. It is a video developed from a series of nighttime photos taken on a time lapse camera where a photo was taken once every second during the ISS’s transition from Africa to Eastern Europe. It is nothing less than spectacular!
At Duotech, we have created and shared some of our own time lapse videos. You can see them on Duotech’s Youtube Channel.
