Comments on: Discovery comes home undocks tomorrow

By: Grand Lunar

Grand Lunar — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 11:25:35 +0000

Once again, I saw the shuttle/ISS pair.

This time, they were fairly well apart. I looked like one star trailer the other. Too cool!

It wasn’t anywhere near the view on Monday, as they were low to the horizon. But it was cool, nonetheless.

Now that I know what to look for (aside from one occasion with Mir, I’ve never deliberately looked for shuttle/space station viewing times), I can only wonder how many times I must have seen a bright light like this, and thought it a plane.

I guess I’ve got myself a new hobby and a new thing to look forward to waking up to!

By: Daniel C.

Daniel C. — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 05:35:58 +0000

I saw the Space Shuttle and ISS on Guy Fawke’s Night here in New Zealand. They went over us on Petone beach at about 9:45 pm. I grabbed my friend’s twelve-year old brother and pointed at it, asking whether he realised that there were actually other humans inside that dot up there, and whether that blew his mind. He said it didn’t. Ah well.

By: veritas36

veritas36 — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 22:50:15 +0000

NASA Website is guarded by headquarters

The field centers lost the ability to post independently after the Bushies came in.
It is improved from the time of the Deutsch fiasco, when there was a main web page glorifying Bush and not much else. It still doesn’t look like the field centers have much autonomy at present. So don’t expect fast updates.
Don’t blame NASA. Plan the politicos.

By: The Centipede

The Centipede — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 19:38:06 +0000

>> Humans are the rightful Heirs of THIS Solar System!!!

Speciesist.

>> OneHotJupiter, not humans, Cetaceans. Dolphins and whales buddy, dolphins and whales.

Speciesist.

I for one welcome our cybernetic overlords. Metal is better than meat!

By: Just Al

Just Al — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 14:40:02 +0000

Grand Lunar said, “All I can say is â€œWhat a way to start the morning!â€
I hope others have managed to glimpse at this.”

Great viewing conditions here, and yes, a good way to start the day off. Later on, the lack of sleep might have some say in the matter, but for now…

Couldn’t get the camera coordinated to the telescope, so I went with a zoom telephoto lens at 1000mm instead – probably unable to resolve any real detail (I’m one of those binariphobes who still uses film, so I won’t know for a few days). Briefly as it rose, I could have sworn I saw two distinct points of light, but never saw that within the viewfinder, so I’m supposing it was a trick of my glasses. But very vivid and distinct, and moving fast. I waved, but didn’t see a wing waggle in return…

Venus illuminating one side of the moon was nice, and the predawn glow here was quite colorful. Did I see all four planets visible this morning? Not sure, but I know I spotted at least three. The comet was disappearing in the twilight by that time.

So, tomorrow will we get a chance to see the shuttle and ISS separately? Heavens-Above doesn’t have the shuttle details yet.

By: CodyG

CodyG — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 14:24:43 +0000

I just saw ISS and Shuttle, separated by a few degrees, cruise the skies over Victoria, BC, Canada. WOW! Although I’m an avid ISS watcher and rarely miss a sighting opportunity never before have I seen the two spacecraft separate, but traveling together. I had to climb to the roof because the max elevation was only 13 degrees and the approach and departure were in the south. So, the roof gave me a better view. It was so cool! A great way to start the week.

I think humans in space is a good idea. I doubt a robot can express the emotion of seeing the Earth from space, and, imho, seeing the Earth from Space is one big reason why we go to space.

By: Marko Pyhajarvi

Marko Pyhajarvi — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 13:52:35 +0000

I agree with you Phil. I have watched Nasa TV during six or seven launches so far and every time I have tried to find real-time information on Nasa’s mission website (currently STS-120). Man, they never report real-time and every time they report, there are just few lines to read. Good to know that Tom’s blog reports better!