Comments on: See the space station

By: MB

MB — Sun, 25 May 2008 05:14:33 +0000

It was cloudy out tonight, and tonight was the last listing of the ISS passing over where I live…

By: ZaphodBeeblebrox

ZaphodBeeblebrox — Sun, 25 May 2008 02:33:32 +0000

I Just Saw that Low Pass you were Talking about Beth, Low and Slow and VERY Orange …

The Colour Seemed to Change When they Added The Truss a Few Years Back, it was Always Whitish Before …

So you’re in The Northeastern US, too, Right?

By: Beth Katz

Beth Katz — Sun, 25 May 2008 01:03:46 +0000

I had a pass overhead at magnitude -2.4 at 8:40pm this evening. The sky was still blue, and we had clouds. But we did see ISS pass the zenith. I had my camera set at 8 seconds, and that image was all white. I got a couple more 2 second photos as it came out of the clouds, but they are unremarkable. Seeing the bright light through the clouds was cool. We get another low pass later tonight.

Jacco, great story about seeing the shuttle.

By: ZaphodBeeblebrox

ZaphodBeeblebrox — Sun, 25 May 2008 00:56:42 +0000

OMG …

There is NOTHING that Compares to that, My Heart is Still Pounding …

Magnitude -2.4 at 81°, it Came Right Over-Head on Newton’s Wings!

:-O

By: slang

slang — Sat, 24 May 2008 22:57:44 +0000

Richard, heavens-above doesn’t require registration. It just makes using the site easier, but you could just bookmark the site after selecting your location to have that info ‘memorised’. (ignore this if that wasn’t the reason for your registration remark)

By: Jacco

Jacco — Sat, 24 May 2008 19:48:49 +0000

Several years ago I watched ISS and the Shuttle passing overhead just when the Shuttle had crossed the Atlantic after launch (I live in the Netherlands). Seeing both of them was a coincedence, because the Shuttle launches when the orbit of ISS passes KSC, not nescessarily when ISS itself is passing KSC overhead. This observation took a bit of preparation because I only had the prediction from NASA J-pass that ISS would fly over the Netherlands that evening. I knew the Shuttle would be launced about 20 minutes earlier, so I was wondering if Shuttle would pass accross my sky together with ISS. I found a table of how the Shuttle speeds up after launch, so I calculated how much time it would take the Shuttle to cross the Atlantic. To my surprise it would pass overhead only several minutes earlier than ISS! So that evening I sat down in front of my computer, watched the launch on NASA tv (which is always a cool experience itself), and I went outside. About 20 or 25 minutes after launch, only a few minutes earlier than I expected, I saw a bright orange dot crossing the sky. That had to be the Shuttle! A few minutes later ISS followed, which was bright white. They didn’t follow the the same track, ISS was more to the north. I was a bit puzzeled about that, but then I realised that ISS was at a much higher altitude than the Shuttle! This was so cool. First I watched the Shuttle launch on my computer, then it crossed the Atlantic in 20 minutes, and then I observed with my own eyes how it crossed my sky carrying its crew, while the ISS was flying a few hundred km higher, carrying its own crew. That was even more cool than watching ISS, Mir, and ISS for the 2nd time cross the sky on the same evening.

By: Dave

Dave — Sat, 24 May 2008 19:40:44 +0000

8:42 tonight is going to perfect. 84 degrees up for six minutes right across the open part of the yard.