To fly into orbit is to see the Earth, in space.
Looking down, our planet is lit up with thunderstorms.
Beyond the horizon, unfiltered by the atmosphere, it’s enveloped in the light of thousands
of distant suns...
And of the great band of stars and glowing gas, the Milky Way.
The International Space Station flies through the thermosphere, 350 kilometers up.
That’s where energized particles slam into the upper atmosphere to create auroras.
These particles come from the Sun.
From this vantage, we see our own civilization echoing back the energy of the universe.
We glow as if we are one unified organism.
City lights blur beneath a cover of clouds.
The shimmer of night yields to day.
And to night again, when the moon now lights our way.
You can see it here reflecting off lakes and clouds across Canada.
To see Earth in space is to see our connection to a cosmos that’s as large as it is diverse.
And beautiful.