Spying On Thunderstorms From Space [Video]
Red Sprite Seen From The ISS If you look very closely just above the bright thunderstorm at the right, you can see a flash of red--a red sprite. ISS Expedition 31 Crew, NASA The International Space Station takes a look at the other side of the storm. NASA wants to know what's up with thunderstorms. Not the flashy bits--the thunder, the lightning, yada yada. Pretty, but we see that all the time. NASA, as usual, is aiming its sights a little higher, on what's happening above the clouds. With a new experiment on the International Space Station, called "Firestation," (please read the name with this soundtrack), the space agency will be exploring what's going on with things like dark lightning (terrestrial gamma-ray flashes)--bursts of gamma radiation released within a storm cloud--and the colorful types of lightning known as red sprites and blue jets and elves. Firestation involves a bunch of sensors mounted...