Tim Peake’s sojourn around Earth’s orbit in the International Space Station (ISS) continues to capture our imaginations, and his latest video is pretty cool.
Celebrating Earth Hour, which takes place tomorrow, 19 March, at 8.30pm, Tim Peake’s timelapse of Earth from aboard the ISS shows us a sample of what he sees everyday.
Planet Earth is beautiful. Protect it & take part in @wwf #EarthHour Saturday 19 March 20:30 https://t.co/6AYXG2bEgshttps://t.co/qcgqHfXr1m
— Tim Peake (@astro_timpeake) March 17, 2016
In just 30 seconds, Peake captures a huge chunk of the world’s population, taking in India, Pakistan and China. Peake had already caught a glimpse of Ireland to celebrate St Patrick’s Day yesterday, too.
ISS astronauts have consistently referenced the plight of Earth’s environmental issues. “We’ve got to take care of the environment,” said Scott Kelly when he returned from almost a year aboard the ISS last month. “I do believe we have an impact on that [the health of the environment], and we do have the ability to change it if we make the decision to.”
Earth Hour is a charitable project to promote climate action around the world, so Peake is doing his part to up the awareness levels.
“I think you start out with this idea of what it’s going to be like,” said Nicole Stott, who returned from the station in 2009, of our planet.
“And then when you do finally look at the Earth for the first time, you’re overwhelmed by how much more beautiful it really is when you see it for real. It’s this dynamic, alive place that you see glowing all the time.”
The Emerald Isle looking lush and green from space…Happy #StPatricksDay to all down there! pic.twitter.com/wrnvbTBWIo
— Tim Peake (@astro_timpeake) March 17, 2016
Main image of Earth via Shutterstock