Time-Lapse View of Earth's Limb from the Space Station Bright swaths of red in the upper atmosphere, known as airglow, can be seen in this time-lapse from the space station 250 miles above. NASA's ICON mission, with a planned launch for the summer of 2017, will observe how interactions between terrestrial weather and a layer of charged particles called the ionosphere create the colorful glow. | International Space Station