This is what astronauts see when they look out their window

An awe-inspiring view of Earth from the International Space Station.
 By 
Miriam Kramer
 on 
This is what astronauts see when they look out their window
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You'd be hard-pressed to find a better view of Earth than the one offered to astronauts living and working on the International Space Station.

While few people are afforded the opportunity to actually fly to the orbiting outpost, the ones who do often share their photos and videos of Earth from above on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

A new video from Jeff Williams -- one of those lucky astronauts who has flown to the Space Station -- shows his views from space over the course of his most recent six-month mission, which ended in September.

Sun glints off bodies of water and sand dunes ripple across the planet's land masses in the 4K footage.

"When you finish and you’re back on the Earth, the memories diminish quickly," Williams said in the video. "So, to capture the memories to be able to bring back the experience to others, and viewing this planet, now we can see it in a global scale and maybe grow in our appreciation of those things that are unique to Earth."

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Miriam Kramer

Miriam Kramer worked as a staff writer for Space.com for about 2.5 years before joining Mashable to cover all things outer space. She took a ride in weightlessness on a zero-gravity flight and watched rockets launch to space from places around the United States. Miriam received her Master's degree in science, health and environmental reporting from New York University in 2012, and she originally hails from Knoxville, Tennessee. Follow Miriam on Twitter at @mirikramer.


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