Gallery: What It's Like to Be an Astronaut: Amazing Videos of the View From Space
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If you're the sort of person who enjoys looking out of airplane windows, watching landscapes pass and Earth unfold, then see these videos from the International Space Station. Assembled from photographic sequences captured in April and May, the videos show Earth from an orbital perspective. Continents pass in minutes. Glories like the northern lights and a solar eclipse fit in their entirety within one person's sight. Each clip represents a few minutes of flight time, with photographs taken at a rate of roughly once per second. The videos are kept at NASA's [Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth](http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/Videos/CrewEarthObservationsVideos/) site, where high-resolution versions can also be found. On the following pages, Wired looks at our favorites. __Above:__ From North America to South Atlantic Ocean -------------------------------------------- The *aurora borealis*, or northern lights, give way to lightning storms as the ISS travels from Idaho to the Caribbean on April 22, 2012. This sped-up video contains photographs taken over 32 minutes. *Video: [Image Science and Analysis Laboratory, NASA-Johnson Space Center](http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/Videos/CrewEarthObservationsVideos/).*
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Stars From the ISS -------------------- Long-exposure photographs capture star trails as the ISS circuits the world between May 12 and May 18, 2012. *Video: [Image Science and Analysis Laboratory, NASA-Johnson Space Center](http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/Videos/CrewEarthObservationsVideos/).*
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Directly Over *Aurora Australis* ---------------------------------- The ISS travels directly over the *aurora astralis*, the southern lights, on April 25, 2012. *Video: [Image Science and Analysis Laboratory, NASA-Johnson Space Center](http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/Videos/CrewEarthObservationsVideos/).*
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Aurora Borealis Over Eastern North America -------------------------------------------- From a sequence of photographs taken on April 13, 2012 as the ISS passed from southern Ontario to the coasts of Quebec and New England. *Video: [Image Science and Analysis Laboratory, NASA-Johnson Space Center](http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/Videos/CrewEarthObservationsVideos/).*
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Solar Eclipse Over Asia ------------------------- The shadow of a solar eclipse falls over eastern Asia on May 20, 2012. *Video: [Image Science and Analysis Laboratory, NASA-Johnson Space Center](http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/Videos/CrewEarthObservationsVideos/).*
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From the Tyrrhenian Sea to Libya ---------------------------------- The ISS travels from the Mediterranean Sea above North Africa to the Libyan desert on May 13, 2012. *Video: [Image Science and Analysis Laboratory, NASA-Johnson Space Center](http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/Videos/CrewEarthObservationsVideos/).*
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Western North and South America --------------------------------- On May 16, 2012 the ISS passed from southern California to the western coast of South America. Smog can be seen off the coast of Mexico. *Video: [Image Science and Analysis Laboratory, NASA-Johnson Space Center](http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/Videos/CrewEarthObservationsVideos/).*
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From Ireland to Somalia ------------------------- It takes just less than 20 minutes for the ISS to travel from southern Ireland and the snowbound Alps of western Europe to the Arabian Peninsula on May 14, 2012. *Video: [Image Science and Analysis Laboratory, NASA-Johnson Space Center](http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/Videos/CrewEarthObservationsVideos/).*
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ISS over Western North America -------------------------------- In just nine minutes on May 13, 2012, the ISS travels from northern California's Sierra Madre mountains, over the Great Salt Lake and the Rocky Mountains, to the plains of North Dakota. *Video: [Image Science and Analysis Laboratory, NASA-Johnson Space Center](http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/Videos/CrewEarthObservationsVideos/).*
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Moon Rising over Pacific Ocean -------------------------------- Moon rises over the Pacific Ocean on the night of May 8, 2012. As the video begins, a crew member opens the windows of the space station's cupola. *Video: [Image Science and Analysis Laboratory, NASA-Johnson Space Center](http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/Videos/CrewEarthObservationsVideos/).*
