Do you remember 1982's "TRON"? The Plot: A computer programmer (epic: Jeff Bridges) is digitized inside the software world of a mainframe computer, where he interacts with various programs in his attempt to get back out. I always loved the Light Cycle races and the Solar Ships...

In a way, the ISS is a solar ship, constantly rotating around us. A tiny white spot, as it can be seen racing over the sky from time to time, when illuminated by the sunset (and sunrise ;).

This Video was achived by "stacking" image sequences provided by NASA from the Crew at International Space Station. These Stacks create the Star Trails, but furthermore make interesting patterns visible. For example lightning corridors within clouds, but they also show occasional satellite tracks (or Iridium Flashes) as well as meteors - patterns that interrupt the main Star Trails, and thus are immediately visible.

The many oversaturated hot pixels in some scenes are the inevitable result of the very high ISO settings the Nikon D3s in use at the ISS have been dialed to keep exposure times as short as possible (due to the high speed the ISS travels with). Unfortunately as there are no dark frames or RAW data currently available, these hot pixels are not easy to remove.