NASA astronaut Anil Menon has shared striking video of the Cygnus cargo spacecraft’s controlled departure from the International Space Station, filmed from the window of the SpaceX Dragon capsule docked at the outpost. The footage offers a rare close-up view of the freighter’s manoeuvres as seen from another spacecraft in orbit.

Menon, who has been posting time-lapse photography from the Dragon window since arriving at the station, has repeatedly used the capsule’s vantage point to document orbital operations. His posts from the forward-facing Dragon window – which looks out in the direction of the station’s travel – have captured Earth at night, star trails and station manoeuvres for his followers on social media.

Cygnus and its cargo run

Cygnus is an uncrewed cargo freighter that ferries supplies to the station. According to NASA, the spacecraft was to remain berthed at the station until October, when it would be filled with disposal cargo, unberthed and sent to burn up during its re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere. Such controlled departures are part of the routine rhythm of station operations, clearing the way for visiting vehicles and making room for new supplies. Menon’s video captures one of these departures from an unusually dramatic perspective, with the Earth’s horizon providing the backdrop.

Menon’s long-duration mission

Menon arrived at the station in mid-July aboard the Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft, launched on a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan alongside Russian cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina, for an eight-month mission that runs into early 2027. He serves as a flight engineer on Expedition 75, alongside the newly arrived Crew-13 astronauts who reached the station in early October aboard a SpaceX Dragon. In recent weeks Menon has shared several time-lapse videos – including one made from 5,500 still images showing the station flipping during an orbit-raising manoeuvre – that have drawn wide attention online.