This timelapse video was made during ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet’s second mission to the International Space Station, “Alpha”. The camera is setup to take pictures at intervals of two a second, and the pictures are then edited into this video that plays at 25 pictures a second. The video is around 12 times faster than real speed and was recorded on 20 September 2021.

Thomas shared this video on social media with the caption:

“Another timelapse looking straight down at Earth, but this time during the day, with Cygnus' solar array looking too. Each orbit over our planet passes over Earth at night and day. Here is the daytime orbit from the same timelapse series from last Tuesday. The inevitable question is: do you prefer the dark side or the light side? ”

Over 200 experiments are planned during Thomas’ time in space, with 40 European ones and 12 new experiments led by the French space agency CNES.

Latest updates on the Alpha mission can be found via @esaspaceflight on Twitter, with more details on ESA’s exploration blog via thomaspesquet.esa.int.

Background information on the Alpha mission is available at www.esa.int/MissionAlpha with a brochure at www.esa.int/AlphaBrochure.