FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

Tech

Watch Lightning Strike Earth in This Video Shot from the ISS

Arguably the best way to experience a thunderstorm is watching it from space.
Rachel Pick
New York, US

Amazing how much lightning can strike our planet in a short time #Principia #timelapsehttps://t.co/XijV5E1pI0
— Tim Peake (@astro_timpeake) February 9, 2016

Tim Peake, the European Space Agency's first British astronaut, just posted an incredible timelapse video of lightning striking the Earth from aboard the International Space Station.

Posted on Tuesday morning in the early hours Eastern Standard Time, Peake said the crew was flying over North Africa and Turkey headed towards Russia when he captured the rapid flashes of lightning appearing across the Earth's horizon.

Peake joined the crew of the ISS in December for a six month stay. A major in the Air Corps, he's been nicknamed "Major Tim" by the Brits, and performed the first spacewalk by a Briton on January 15. While aboard, Peake is also slated to participate in 265 research projects and experiments, so if you think he's just hanging out doing backflips and filming the atmosphere all the time, think again.

Tim PeakeFebruary 5, 2016

Peake frequently posts incredible space shots on his Twitter account, like the one above of the aurora borealis, and these pictures of New Zealand's dramatic topography.

I almost envy him the constant stunning views, but 265 projects in six months sounds like a lot of work. Better to leave spaceflight to Major Tim.