ESA Time-Lapse Video Captures Six Months Of Space In Six Minutes From 'Blue Dot' Mission

Ever wonder what it would be like to watch a time-lapse video of space while listening to trippy music? Now you can find out. An astounding video released by the European Space Agency this week compiled 12,500 photographs from the International Space Station for viewing in just six minutes.

ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst was serving as a flight engineer during a six-month-long expedition on the space station when he captured these striking images, encompassing lightning, sunrises, auroras and cities at nighttime, according to an ESA press release. “Seen from a distance, our planet is just a blue dot, a fragile spaceship for humankind,” Gerst said in a statement this year. “We need to understand the universe we live in to protect our home.”

Gerst, a German native, returned to Earth from the so-called Blue Dot mission last month, along with Roscosmos cosmonaut Maxim Suraev, the commander, and NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman. All three have been monitored to see how they readapt to gravity after spending almost half a year in the weightlessness of space, according to an ESA press release.

The German, Russian and American documented their mission together on Twitter, posting photos of the crew and videos of “floating water.” The collaborative expedition included research projects on “seedling growth, observation of meteors entering Earth’s atmosphere and studies of animal biology and bone and muscle physiology,” according to NASA.