NASA astronaut records stunning view as he flies across the night sky

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station don't need to flick on the TV to help them fall asleep at night. They can just look out the window. This weekend, Commander Terry Virts, who's been aboard the station since November, gave us Earthbound folk a look at just what we're missing. A video posted to his Twitter account shows the absolutely surreal view from aboard ISS as it hurtles around the Earth at roughly 17,000 mph. As the stars slip below the horizon, they meet the rapidly-moving lights from the surface. It's utterly stupendous.
Commander Virts and his Expedition 43 crew welcomed astronauts Scott Kelly and Mikhail Kornienko aboard ISS back in late March, when the two began their record-breaking, year-long trip in space.

Watch for the awesome high altitude purple plume #aurora ray created from red atomic oxygen + blue ionized nitrogen. pic.twitter.com/H5mrOZiCGC

— Terry W. Virts (@AstroTerry) 24 Травень 2015

No words to add to this night view. pic.twitter.com/mZUSv9RvVP

— Terry W. Virts (@AstroTerry) 24 Травень 2015

…and a flight directly over the west coast of Saudi Arabia. #SpaceVine https://t.co/oQGM5y9V8s

— Terry W. Virts (@AstroTerry) 23 Травень 2015