Astronauts Spot Mysterious Sprites From The International Space Station

Space





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Tiny red sprite above a U.S. storm. ISS/JSC/NASA.

Thunderstorms are ferocious natural phenomena. Crackles of lightning and booms of thunder reign over the surface of the Earth. However, something else occasionally floats ethereally above the storm clouds: a short-lived sprite. These curious bursts of energy have been spotted not once, but twice in one evening by astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS).