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Alexander Gerst, German astronaut created a 6 minute time-lapse video of space using the 12,5oo photos he took at the ISS .
Gerst worked alongside 2 colleagues: Maxim Suarev, Russian astronaut and Reid Wiseman, American cosmonaut. His scientific bakgrounds include geophysics and volcanology. He was needed as a flight engineer for the ISS (International Space Station) mission.
The International Space Station is the biggest artificial man-made establishment, created with the combined efforts of the United States and Russia. It was sent into low-Earth orbit for the first time in 1998. Since then it housed a number of experiments varying from biology and physics to meteorology.
Alexander Gerst is the third German to enter the International Space Station and one of the six European spacemen to have gone in space on a long-term mission.
The Blue Dot mission took place at the ISS and began on March of this year, ending 166 days later on November 10 when the spacecraft landed safely on the grass-covered plains of Kazakhstan.
During their stay at the ISS, the astronauts conducted a number of experiments in the field of physics, human physiology, biology (observing seeds grow in zero gravity), technology and radiation research.
During his stay Gerst shot over 12,000 high-quality images using high-resolution cameras positioned on the inner but also the outer walls of the spaceship. In the end he obtained images of the Earth taken from various angles during both day and night also capturing auroras and the Sun rising. In other images one can see lightning, cities lit at night, the Milky Way and even a thin layer of the Earth’s atmosphere.
There are also some photographs showing the space station as it was orbiting the Earth at the speed of approximately 17,600 miles per hour.
In order to set the cameras to take the pictures at a certain time interval, the astronaut used an intervalometer.
After his return to terrestrial grounds he used the photographic material to create an amazing time-lapse video portraying the Earth in different stages but also the space station “at work”. The video shows how the Cygnus spacecraft was retrieved by the space station’s robotic arm during its docking and its departure from the ISS.
In regards to the video, Gerst reached the following conclusion:
“Seen from a distance, our planet is just a blue dot, a fragile spaceship for humankind. We need to understand the universe we live in to protect our home.”
The time-lapse can be watched at the following link:
Image Source: Inquisit
