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Every time we look out this
window or we look out the windows

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in the cupola, we're absolutely amazed.

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And the same thing goes for being
aboard the space shuttle.

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And I would say that two nights ago I probably
saw the most amazing thing I've ever seen

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in space, and that's saying an awful lot
because every day is filled with amazing things.

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And that was as we were flying over
Tasmania, we'd actually just seen the storms

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in the South Pacific over the Philippines.

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And it was nighttime, thunderstorms
lighting up the entire sky,

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and then just before the sun came
up, the Earth's limb was, you know,

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lit up as a sliver of blue and purple.

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And then there was a long green arc that
extended probably 10° or so from the horizon.

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Actually from the perspective of the cupola,
which, in which case we're upside down, up,

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you know, in my field of view upwards.

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In fact it disappeared behind the JEM.

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At least 10° I think, 20 Earth or 20
moon diameters, if you think about it

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in those terms, and I had no idea what it was.

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It was a long, green glowing arc.

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And it turns out, it ended up
being a comet that somebody

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in Tasmania had seen about the same time.

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Comet Lovejoy, that had passed about
140,000 km from the surface of the sun.

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When it disappeared behind the sun, I think
astronomers thought it would not appear again.

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It probably would burn up.

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But it's probably the most
spectacular thing you can imagine.

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And from the vantage point of space, it's
different than seeing it from planet Earth

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because there's no intervening
atmosphere to see.

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So we took some really neat pictures last night,

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about 100 or so that we hope
to make a movie out of.