Now anyone can see Europe from an astronaut's point of view with this epic video shot from the International Space Station.
Captured with a 4K ultra-high-definition camera, the video shows a crystal-clear view of Europe, starting with Spain and flying east all the way to Budapest, Hungary. In the time it took to shoot this video clip — a little over 3 minutes — the space station traveled nearly 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers). [Earth from Space: Amazing Astronaut Photos]
The space station orbits about 250 miles (400 km) above Earth, and it captures the view down below with several onboard cameras. Traveling at about 17,500 mph (28,000 km/h) relative to the ground, it whizzes around the globe every 92 minutes. But the view is not the same every 92 minutes, because the space station's flight path shifts slightly with each orbit.
The footage was recorded in August 2016, and NASA's Johnson Space Center, which oversees activities on the space station, released the video Monday (July 17). The groovy background music was produced by Swedish composer Joakim Karud.
Editor's note: Space.com senior producer Steve Spaleta contributed to this report.
Email Hanneke Weitering at hweitering@space.com or follow her @hannekescience. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
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