What does lightning look like from space? Astronauts on space station share stunning photos
It's safe to say that most of us have seen lightning here on Earth plenty of times – some of us have even been struck by it.
But the natural phenomenon is one all but a few select individuals will ever have the chance to see from the vantage of 250 miles in orbit. Fortunately, a few astronauts over the years have been more than willing to generously share a glimpse of crashing lightning as seen from outer space.
And you better believe it looks nothing like what we're used to seeing from the ground.
The latest images of sky-splitting lightning came courtesy of two NASA astronauts residing aboard the International Space Station. In May, Nichole Ayers and Anne McClain posted photos on social media site X of lightning roiling far, far beneath them.
"This is what lightning looks like from the top down," McClain said in a post shared May 21.
Here's a closer look at just what they managed to capture from above Earth's atmosphere.
The images McClain and Ayers shared show electrostatic discharges – in other words, lightning – from above the clouds as they orbited in the International Space Station.
In Ayers' post on X, she said she first observed lightning May 1 while suited up for a spacewalk outside the orbital outpost. She then managed to capture a few photos the next day, which she shared May 5.
"I am so amazed by the view we have up here of our Earth's weather systems," Ayers posted.
While it was unclear what part of Earth the lightning was striking in Ayers' photos, McClain said her images were captured over Alabama and Georgia.
"Fast and furious, but also an incredible sight!" McClain said.
The photos not only reveal the chaotic beauty of lightning, but could provide valuable orbital data to scientists studying the phenomenon back on Earth.
Here's a look at some of the astronauts' photos:
The photos were captured at speeds of 120 frames per second, with the depicted flashes only taking up one frame. The technique was pioneered by veteran NASA astronaut Don Pettit, who is renowned for his astral photography.
Pettit, who had arrived in September 2024 for his third and most recent space station stint, departed April 19, 2025, with two cosmonauts before safely landing in Kazakhstan on his 70th birthday.
Ayers and McClain, who also recently made headlines for completing a rare all-female spacewalk, are among seven people living at the International Space Station.
The crew of Expedition 73 includes three Americans, three Russian cosmonauts and one Japanese spacefarer from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (Jaxa.)
McClain and Ayers are both part of a SpaceX mission known as Crew-10 that reached the space station in March 2025. Their arrival with JAXA astronaut Takuya Onishi and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov paved the way for the NASA astronauts who crewed the doomed Boeing Starliner to depart with the Crew-9 mission.
Also at the station is NASA astronaut Jonny Kim, who reached the outpost in April 2025 with cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky.
Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Astronauts on space station glimpse lightning from space: See photos
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
SpaceX set to for Friday night rocket launch from Florida's Space Coast
SpaceX crews are planning to launch a Falcon 9 rocket Friday night from Florida's Space Coast. The launch from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station is planned for 11:19 p.m. The launch is looking to send a SiriusXM satellite into orbit. SpaceX said this will be the eighth flight for the first-stage rocket booster supporting this launch, which previously launched Crew-9, RRT-1, Firefly Blue Ghost Mission 1, Fram2, and three Starlink missions. Following the launch, SpaceX plans the launch the first-state booster again on its 'A Shortfall of Gravitas' droneship in the Atlantic Ocean. If the launch is delayed, a back-up launch window will open Saturday at 11:19 p.m. Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
The Hill
an hour ago
- The Hill
The US Postal Service has an animal welfare problem
Many Americans have a frustrating relationship with the United States Postal Service. Lines are often long, mail gets lost and packages can be delayed. But the government institution's biggest blemish has nothing to do with late birthday cards. The current USPS standards for shipping live animals are dangerously inadequate and in desperate need of reform. In May, thousands of chicks were found abandoned in a USPS truck in Delaware. With the baby birds trapped without food or water in high temperatures for three days, thousands sadly perished, with less than half of the total 12,000 birds surviving. USPS said it is investigating the 'process breakdown,' but the incident requires more than bureaucratic proceedings. This particular event is part of a larger pattern of animal mistreatment at the government agency. Earlier this year, USPS delays in Indiana left dozens of chicks dead. Thousands more were killed in New England following mail delivery disruptions in 2020. The country's flagship mail carrier transports millions of animals every year, but puzzlingly does not employ a single veterinarian to oversee its animal shipment operations and practices. With weak expert supervision, the shipments happen under conditions that most Americans would find unacceptable for domestic pets like dogs or cats. Animals ranging from birds to reptiles and bees to fish are shipped cross-country with limited standards that only mandate basic ventilation and box labeling. The conditions at airports are particularly heartbreaking. Animals transported through USPS via plane can be left on the tarmac for extended periods before being loaded into the cargo hold. That leaves the living, breathing creatures exposed to extreme heat, bitter cold or other harsh weather conditions. When traveling on vacation through the Phoenix airport in July, would you leave your family dog baking in a crate on the hot runway? Absolutely not. Stronger federal rules are needed to ensure that animals shipped through the postal service are treated humanely. The status quo around animal welfare is abhorrent, but the government does not need to reinvent the wheel to rectify the situation. Other companies that transport live animals already have robust rules in place that can, and should, be duplicated at USPS. For example, when being transported through the sky, animals should be last on and first off the plane. When not actively being loaded, species should be held in climate-controlled hangers, rather than left out in the elements. Flying routes should also be adjusted to cut down on transport time and to reflect weather forecasts that could become hazardous for the animals. When on the road, USPS regulations should limit the maximum transit time, create temperature standards and mandate special training for employees to learn best practices around facilitating the transport of live animals. After all, moving a container of baby chicks or insects should be approached differently than delivering an Amazon package. Most importantly, the agency should explore mechanisms that ensure workers adhere to these new protocols. That includes monitoring employees for compliance as well as holding those accountable who break the rules. The tragic episode that recently unfolded in Delaware should be a wake-up call for the United States Postal Service. President Trump should sign an executive order directing the Postmaster General to swiftly craft and implement changes. It is well past time for the mail carrier to revamp its processes to reflect modern standards of animal welfare. Animal lives hang in the balance. Robin Ganzert, Ph.D., is the president and CEO of the American Humane Society.
Hamilton Spectator
an hour ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Marc Garneau was the first Canadian in space — but what he achieved on Earth is worth remembering, too
If Marc Garneau wasn't the beau ideal of Canadian character, accomplishment and aspiration, then he was surely on the short list. Canada's first astronaut in space, who died on Wednesday at 76 after a short illness, made his name travelling to the heavens. But his was a life that meant so much more, one shot through with examples of courage, adventure, service and resilience here on Earth. 'I didn't set out to be an astronaut, but that's what I became,' Garneau wrote in his 2024 memoir, A Most Extraordinary Ride. 'I also didn't set out to be a politician, but that also happened.' What he did set out to do 'was to live to the fullest of my capabilities rather than shrink from the challenges life threw at me, to stay curious, and to carry myself with dignity.' Garneau also wrote about the odd burst of youthful hell-raising. 'I was immature and lacked judgment,' he later recalled. 'Fortunately, it worked out, and I was able to learn from those experiences.' The son of a francophone infantry officer from Quebec City and an anglo-Canadian nurse from Sussex, New Brunswick, Garneau considered himself a product of both of Canada's fabled two solitudes. 'I was half Quebecer and half Maritimer,' he wrote. 'I believe I get my passion and tendency to argue from my Quebec ancestry and my pragmatism and can-do attitude from the Maritimer in my DNA.' Garneau joined the Royal Canadian Navy at 16, relishing the challenge of navigating vast spaces, relying on his wits. 'I like challenges; I like adventure,' he said last year. 'I'm willing to tolerate a certain amount of risk in my life. Failure does not throw me off, and I learned from failure.' While serving in the navy, he read a newspaper ad from the National Research Council. It was looking for astronauts. Garneau applied. In 1983, he was selected from more than 4,300 applicants to a class of six astronauts. A year later, he became the first Canadian to go to space, as a payload specialist on the NASA shuttle mission. 'I have often used the word euphoria to describe the moment I first saw Earth from space,' Garneau wrote. 'The view that greeted me left me not only breathless, but speechless. Words like incredible, amazing and extraordinary couldn't do justice to what I was seeing.' He wanted NASA to be pleased with his work. And, he said, 'I wanted Canadians to be proud of me.' That they were, and Garneau returned to Earth a national celebrity. He left the astronaut corps after two more missions and became president of the Canadian Space Agency before being recruited into politics. 'The possibility of making decisions that would shape Canada's future appealed to me,' he wrote. Although he lost his first bid for the House of Commons, in 2006, he won in 2008 and remained in office until his retirement, in 2023. He sought the Liberal leadership in 2013 but dropped out of the race that Justin Trudeau eventually won. He would go on to serve as Trudeau's minister of transport and then foreign affairs. Garneau had an edge, disagreeing with his leader on several aspects of foreign policy. He wished that the astronaut culture of honesty, openness, making no excuses and admitting promptly to error prevailed in politics. When he was left out of Trudeau's cabinet in 2021, Garneau more or less masked his sense of betrayal. 'It felt like a punch in the gut,' he wrote — but he carried on. Many of the tributes that have poured in since Garneau's wife, Pam, announced his passing have mentioned his fundamental virtues: humility, modesty, thoughtfulness, grace, courage, hopefulness, decency. Bob Rae, Canada's ambassador to the United Nations and one of Garneau's former colleagues, called him an 'old-fashioned, upfront guy, wise, incredibly hard-working, with deep humility and quiet sense of humour.' Garneau said that when he sat down to write his memoir, 'I realized, my goodness, I did pack a lot in 75 years.' Not least of all inspiring and making proud an entire country.
