Spaced Out
Houston from outer space: Astronaut in orbit shoots a stunning video of stormy Bayou City
Houstonians on the ground may have been a bit perturbed by all of the rain and scattered thunderstorms last week. But maybe all they needed was a little perspective.
Maryland astronaut Reid Wiseman shot a video of a lightning storm above Houston while orbiting above the earth and posted it to his Twitter account. Wiseman is currently serving as a flight engineer on Expedition 40 of the International Space Station (ISS).
Aside from shooting amazing footage of an otherwise dreary Houston day, Wiseman and crew also caught a case of World Cup fever. Flight engineer Alexander Gerst of Germany, shaved Wiseman's and commander Steve Swanson's heads to collect a bet on the outcome of the USA vs Germany game on Thursday.
Among other things, the crew members of Expedition 40 will be working on a space-based scatterometer, a remote sensing instrument that will be useful for weather forecasting and hurricane monitoring. With some luck, the crew may be able to help Houstonians better predict these rainy days.
Check out the spacy video: