NASA Astronaut’s Helmet Camera Accidentally Recorded a Stunning View of Earth From Space
“What?” NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson exclaimed after her fellow Shane Kimbrough radioed her saying, “Peggy, I don’t have a shield.” It was Thursday, March 30, 2017, and Whitson was tethered to the International Space Station (ISS), on a mission to conduct a seven-hour spacewalk with Kimbrough. Among the list of tasks Whitson had been assigned, one included installing a protective shield on the Tranquility module of the ISS. But before they could set that up, a fragment of the shielding escaped its tether. A camera attached to Whitson’s helmet recorded it as it slipped into the dark cosmic abyss. And the helmet cam also recorded a striking view of planet Earth from millions of miles away, as seen in a cut-out clip shared on X by @wonderofscience.
The goal for this space mission was to set up a second docking port for the U.S. crew ferry ships. Whitson was also required to install an upgraded computer relay box, apart from adding the protection shield to the module, per CBS News. The shielding fragment that fell away was meant to protect the spacecraft against micrometeoroid debris. Vortices of this debris flying through the space could pose a hazard for the astronauts.
However, despite the loss of this fragment not posing a major risk, the Mission Control back on Earth devised a plan for the two astronauts to "finish covering the port with the PMA-3 cover Whitson removed earlier in the day. The plan worked, and the cover was successfully installed, providing thermal protection and micrometeoroid and orbital debris cover for the port,” according to the description written below the full footage shared by NASA Johnson.
Watch the video here.
The cut-out clip shared by the X user shows one of the astronauts, likely Whitson, floating in space, conducting operations on the ISS. The light emitted from the attached solar panels illuminates the folds and straps of their spacesuit, as well as the golden face mask, which seems to be glittering. While the astronaut seems immersed in the technical task, peeking from behind their oxygen cylinder, Earth emerges into view. From up above, the segment of the blue planet resembles a ball drifting in black space. The clouds became a piece of art as if it was painted with textured white paint.
As the camera panned sideways, it revealed the astronaut’s legs dangling mid-space. It must be a strange feeling, some viewers said, getting out of the ISS. Despite knowing that they wouldn’t fall, the loss of gravity is enough of an insecurity to evoke fright in any human. In this footage, the scene beneath the astronaut’s flittering legs displayed hints of green, particularly undertones of olive green and tawny brown splashed here and there in patches on the planet. The arc that succeeded in catching the camera’s attention dazzled with a neon blue light that zoomed in and out depending on the distance.
“I also want to experience it,” commented @litkaizo. Thousands of viewers were left wonderstruck, desirous to witness this scene for themselves from a distant space. @maximnaidovich reflected, “Space is a dangerous and deceptively beautiful place. I wonder what kind of energy pulls people into it. What makes some become beauty bloggers, and others astronauts?” Whitson has shattered every record after becoming the first female to have spent 675 days in space, even surpassing Sunita Williams’ record, per BBC. “There's nothing in this world that comes close to the terror and beauty of this,” @squ3aksmart, a viewer, wrote in a poetic comment.
You can follow @wonderofscience for more fascinating science content.
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