ISS

Astronaut Tim Peake posted a time lapse video from the International Space Station (ISS) that caught a particularly striking view of lightening as it flew over Earth. According to the caption, all these lightening strikes happened in a matter of minutes:

Flying from North Africa over Turkey towards Russia in this timelapse (this is speeded up; travelling about 5500 km would take around 10-12 minutes, covered here in 30 seconds).

This marks the beginning of his year in space,which is a super long time to be in space.

NASA also got in on the action showing us that sometimes, the whole world appears green.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day! Green from space. We have @Space_Station aurora views: [video] https://t.co/UG1x2YutsO pic.twitter.com/FBpXJ5OIhd

— NASA (@NASA) March 17, 2015

If you have dreams of someday traveling into space, this video might make you drool with anticipation.

European Space Agency astronaut Alexander Gerst put together this amazing timelapse using 12,500 images taken during his six-month Blue Dot mission aboard the International Space Station.

During his time up there, he had a number of major accomplishments. According to the ESA, these included "installing ESA's furnace that can suspend and cool molten metal in mid-air, a spacewalk to maintain and improve the Space Station, and the docking of Europe's last Automated Transfer Vehicle – the largest spacecraft to supply the research centre."

Gerst would often set up cameras to take photos while he conducted his work, and you can check out his full feed of images on his Flickr page.

...Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin voiced disapproval of this decision, saying they would go toe-to-toe with US threats and could potentially cut off access to the ISS. He also quipped that the US should deliver its astronauts to the ISS via trampoline. At the time of that announcement, the United States had two astronauts onboard, leaving some to speculate about their fate. Rick Mastracchio returned to Earth just yesterday, but Steven Swanson is still onboard. Gregory Wiseman is currently scheduled to launch to the ISS on May 28 for Expedition 40 and that plan does not appear to have changed.

NASA and White House officials are announcing plans today (Jan. 8) to keep the International Space Station running through at least 2024 — a four-year life extension for the largest spacecraft ever built.

The NASA decision will allow scientists to use the International Space Station for at least the next 10 years, maximizing the science return on the $100 billion orbiting laboratory, Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA's chief of exploration and human spaceflight operations, said in a teleconference. Previous lifetime projections for the space station called for it be shut down in 2020.

Need more christmas cheer?