{"id":719831,"date":"2026-06-06T22:21:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T22:21:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/719831\/"},"modified":"2026-06-06T22:21:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T22:21:10","slug":"nasa-astronaut-shares-mesmerising-timelapse-of-crystals-growing-in-microgravity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/719831\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA Astronaut Shares Mesmerising Timelapse Of Crystals Growing In Microgravity"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>NASA astronaut Don Pettit has shared a fascinating timelapse video showing the growth of crystals in microgravity, offering a closer look at how materials behave in space.<\/p>\n<p>In a post accompanying the video, Pettit explained that crystals in microgravity experience a phenomenon known as &#8220;hopper growth.&#8221; According to him, the outer edges and corners of the crystals grow at faster rates than their flat faces, creating a distinctive step-like appearance.<\/p>\n<p>Watch Video Here:<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">In microgravity, crystals experience &#8220;hopper growth,&#8221; where the outer edges and corners grow at faster rates than the flat faces, creating a step-like appearance. This timelapse records their growth inside a thin water film. Look closely, and you will see the patterns emerge! <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/iSlqJvke1G\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/iSlqJvke1G<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Don Pettit (@astro_Pettit) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/astro_Pettit\/status\/2063063048932245847?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\">June 6, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;In microgravity, crystals experience &#8216;hopper growth,&#8217; where the outer edges and corners grow at faster rates than the flat faces, creating a step-like appearance. This timelapse records their growth inside a thin water film. Look closely, and you will see the patterns emerge!&#8221; Pettit wrote.<\/p>\n<p>The video captures the gradual formation of the crystals within a thin layer of water. As the timelapse progresses, intricate patterns become visible, highlighting the unique growth process that occurs in the microgravity environment.<\/p>\n<p>Pettit&#8217;s post drew attention to the striking visual patterns created by the crystals as they developed over time, offering viewers a glimpse into scientific observations made in space.<\/p>\n<p>                                                                                                                                                            <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NASA astronaut Don Pettit has shared a fascinating timelapse video showing the growth of crystals in microgravity, offering&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":719832,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[64,63,202518,61930,77488,128,1447,285],"class_list":["post-719831","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-don-pettit","tag-microgravity","tag-nasa-astronaut","tag-science","tag-science-news","tag-space"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/719831","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=719831"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/719831\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/719832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=719831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=719831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=719831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}