MNN - Mother Nature Network

For everything that a half-century of space exploration has taught us about space, some of its most salient lessons aren't about the final frontier at all — they're about ourselves. Ever since NASA released the famous "blue marble" photo in 1972, space travel has given humanity a new appreciation of the planet that birthed us.

 

And thanks to all the high-def imagery from the International Space Station in recent years, that appreciation is still growing. The Internet is now awash with stunning time-lapse ISS videos, showing celestial views like a big swoop over the Pacific, auroras and city lights over the U.S., and thunderstorms over Africa.

 

But just when it seemed our minds could be blown no further, 18-year-old Croatian Tomislav Safundžić posted the following clip on Vimeo. Using imagery from NASA's Johnson Space Center in Texas, Safundžić created a fast-paced flyby that eschews the usual serenity of these time-lapse videos. Set to an urgent-yet-ethereal musical score by the XX, the result is a quick, compelling look at our home planet from the outside:

 

 

Also on MNN:

• 8 epic time-lapse videos of our planet
• Time-lapse video: Stargazing from space
• Watch: Aurora borealis in real time
• Listen to the 'roar' of an aurora