A NASA astronaut has revealed an unexpected sight visible from space.
Loral O’Hara has been aboard the International Space Station for the past six months.
While up there, she’s been helping NASA prepare for missions to the Moon and Mars.
Plus she’s been sharing some of the lesser known sights of Earth from above.
READ MORE: NASA reveals lunar racer car that’ll transport astronauts to uncharted destinations on the Moon
While most people use Instagram to post photos from their holidays or highlights from their daily lives, Loral O’Hara uses it a bit differently.
She also shares the highlights of her days, but they’re particularly noteworthy seeing as she’s in space.
The NASA astronaut reached the ISS in September 2023.
Since arriving, she’s been involved in research and scientific experiments designed to understand how microgravity affects the human body.
After all, it’s been shown that astronauts essentially return to Earth as different people.
She also made waves for being one of the NASA astronauts responsible for dropping a toolbag in space.
The bag was carrying $100,000 worth of equipment, and remains orbiting the earth as ‘space junk’ to this day.
When looking down on Earth, astronauts expect to see water, land, and maybe even the Great Pyramids of Giza.
But O’Hara captured a sight she didn’t know she’d be able to see from so far away.
She shared a photo of what looks like a massive sprawling city, lit up with electricity.
But it turns out these photos were actually of fishing fleets in the ocean, specifically the Arabian Sea along India’s west coast, and the Gulf of Thailand and Andaman Sea.
“The multicolored arrays of light on the water are fishing boats,” O’Hara said.
“These are only two of many hot spots.”
O’Hara is back on Earth now, taking part in the training astronauts have to undergo to get used to experiencing gravity again.
