In many ways, the introduction of small, portable cameras like the GoPro has changed the way the world is able to participate in extraordinary circumstances.  From extreme sports to combat footage, the influx of lightweight and resilient cameras in the commercial market has been it possible for us to see incredible things from the comfort of our own homes – and now, that includes the most extreme of environments, outer space.

In this video uploaded to Twitter by NASA Astronaut Joe Acaba, you get a front row seat for one of the most incredible views ever experienced by mankind: his first steps out of the International Space Station and into the great beyond.

Acaba, a Marine Corps veteran, has been a part of NASA since 2004, and had accrued more than 100 days in space before joining the crew of the most recent ISS mission.  He’s manned the space shuttle, worked directly with the European Space Agency and even served as the senior American official at Russia’s Star City, where American astronauts hitch rides to the ISS via Soviet era Soyouz capsules.  In the brief video he posted, he also serves as a surrogate for anyone who’s ever dreamed of knowing what it’s like to step out of the relative safety of mankind’s only space-based habitat, and into the “the final frontier.”

The video was posted to Twitter by another Marine Veteran turned astronaut, Randy Bresnik.  Bresnik is also currently aboard the ISS, and is well worth following on Twitter.  He regularly posts incredible images from the space station, as well as interesting tidbits about life in space.  Bresnik recently took over as commander of the International Space Station, following the return of record-setting astronaut Peggy Whitson.

Watch the video of Acaba exiting the International Space Station below:

 

 

 

Image courtesy of Twitter