American astronaut Nicole "Vapor" Ayers, currently part of SpaceX’s Crew-10 mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS), shared a breathtaking video of the northern lights (Aurora Borealis) illuminating Earth’s atmosphere over North America.
Aurora Borealis as seen from the space station
(Video: Nicole Ayers, NASA)
“The Aurora showed up this last weekend when I wasn’t expecting it!" she wrote on X. "I was trying to capture the massive storms that went through both North and South America and got a nice surprise. The Aurora appeared right at sunset over the Northern US and Canada.” The video, filmed from the ISS, shows a stunning green and purple glow flickering across the skies above the United States and Canada. The unexpected footage has sparked widespread interest on social media and among scientists.
When solar winds reach Earth, they interact with the atmosphere to create the aurora, a phenomenon most often visible near the North Pole but occasionally appearing in more southern regions during heightened solar activity. Sometimes, as Ayers demonstrated, the northern lights can even be seen from space.
Ayers’ footage not only highlights the beauty of the aurora but also underscores the importance of astronauts in monitoring atmospheric and climate events. “We see beauty, while scientists see data,” she wrote. The video she captured will contribute to research and environmental monitoring efforts.
This is Ayers’ first mission as an astronaut. She launched aboard SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft on March 14 from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. During her time in orbit, she has been photographing Earth as part of her mission, combining her passion for photography with the scientific goals of the expedition.
“I‘m also fascinated by just how many satellites are orbiting the Earth at any given moment. There’s so much to share with you all!” Ayers wrote on X. In one post, she shared how a photograph she took of Italy helped her identify Mount Etna by the absence of lights in the area surrounding the volcano.
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Before becoming an astronaut, Ayers served as a fighter pilot, flying F-22 Raptor jets in the U.S. Air Force. She was selected for NASA’s 23rd astronaut group in 2021. Ayers graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 2011 with a degree in mathematics and a specialization in Russian. She later earned a master’s degree in computational and applied mathematics from Rice University in 2013.
Between 2014 and the end of 2019, Ayers worked as a flight instructor. She began the NASA application process while serving as deputy director of operations for the 90th Fighter Squadron at Elmendorf Air Force Base in late 2019 and early 2020.
During her time aboard the ISS, Ayers will continue observing and documenting phenomena from space. Her responsibilities include monitoring climate patterns and documenting solar and atmospheric events—critical components for understanding the behavior of Earth’s environment.