Space Time-Lapse Video From Space Station Tweaked By Artist Alex Rivest (VIDEO)

NASA's time-lapse videos from the International Space Station (ISS) are breathtaking, sure. But wait till you see what an artist can do tweak them. For his new video, "The Stars as Viewed from the International Space Station," MIT student and photographer Alex Rivest took NASA's raw footage of the earth and sky and turned it into a cosmic tableau that's more Millennium Falcon than ISS.

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The Stars as Viewed from the International Space Station. from AJRCLIPS on Vimeo

Rivest used Adobe Lightroom and adjusted the contrast in NASA's images to bring out the stars—the particularly striking opening shot was made using software specially designed to produce star trails.

According to NASA, that shot "mainly focuses on the star field while the ISS travels over the eastern United States, Canada, and over the North Atlantic Ocean," but you can hardly make out terrestrial details under such high contrast. This view is designed for the stars.

The footage was compiled from images collected by NASA astronaut Don Pettit, who has spearheaded various interesting projects aboard the ISS.