NASA astronaut Chris Williams has shared an enchanting view of fireworks exploding in the sky over Beijing from the International Space Station (ISS), as millions gathered on the world below to celebrate Lunar New Year on the night of Feb. 17.
A celebration witnessed from orbit
Williams captured spectacular detail in the complex network of highways and thoroughfares branching out from the bright urban centres of Beijing, and the coastal city of Tianjin, which can be seen to the southeast of the Chinese capital.
On the night of Feb. 17, this metropolitan light show was bolstered by the light cast by spectacular fireworks displays, which took on a static-like appearance in the time-lapse footage captured from 250 miles (402 kilometers) above Earth in low orbit.
“Happy Year of the Horse,” wrote Williams in an X post accompanying the video. “I was fortunate to be looking out of the Cupola while we were passing over Beijing and saw the twinkling of fireworks celebrating the Lunar New Year!”
Meanwhile, Chinese taikonauts Zhang Lu, Wu Fei and Zhang Hongzhang marked the celebration in orbit by adorning the Tiangong Space Station with festive decorations and a feast, while also sharing a music video partially filmed aboard the orbital outpost, titled “Let the five-star red flag fly high in space”.
What spacecraft are in frame?
A circular solar panel belonging to the Northrop Grumman-built Cygnus XL cargo spacecraft NG-23 can be seen to the right of the shot. The spacecraft carried 11,000 pounds (4,990 kilograms) of supplies and equipment to the orbital station following its launch on Sept. 14, 2025.
The MS-28 Soyuz spacecraft — whose rocket caused significant damage to the only crew-capable launch pad at Russia’s Baikonur Cosmodrome upon lifting off on Thanksgiving Day in November last year — is visible to the left of the Cygnus freighter. The spacecraft and its crew, composed of NASA‘s Chris Williams and cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev are due to depart the station and return to Earth this summer.
Peeking up at the bottom left of the video is the Russian docking node “Prichal” — a recent addition to the orbital station that, installed back in 2021, provides additional berths for crewed Soyuz spacecraft and Progress freighters..
Read our explainer article on the International Space Station to find out more!
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