It’s a rare clear night here so I’m alternating going out to look at the stars and coming in to warm up.

@Heather @Christian, and any others who are confused about how ISS Wave works, or where and when to look for ISS passes, I humbly suggest you visit our home page, http://www.isswave.org , not just the map page. We’ve tried to lay out explicit, step-by-step instructions on how to participate including links to several external satellite prediction services. In the end, this is a spontaneous, twitter-based, all-volunteer effort that we put together in six short weeks, so maybe cut us a little slack? We invite feedback and questions on twitter, http://twitter.com/isswave

@Mike Saunders I would just add to scibuff’s remarks that we have endeavored to make this as international as possible but the fact that this campaign is a) coordinated on Twitter and b) in English mean that the demographics of our participants are necessarily going to reflect those two things.

@QuietDesperation Come on, the waving is fun and it connects you to other people waving, which is the whole point. And for children and other newcomers to ISS watching, it helps hit home that it’s not just another satellite, there are people up there.

It is free.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Thomas

for Adelaide’s own astronaut Andy Thomas.

This :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury-Atlas_6

for John Glenn’s Friendship-7 flight. Including this description of what I’ve mentioned above :

Continuing his journey on the night side of Earth, nearing the Australian coastline, Glenn made star, weather, and landmark observations. He looked for but failed to see the dim light phenomenon known as the zodiacal light; his eyes had insufficient time to adapt to the darkness.The spacecraft came into radio range of Muchea, Australia. At the Mercury Tracking Station there, Gordon Cooper was the capsule communicator. Glenn reported that he felt fine and had no problems. He saw a very bright light and what appeared to be the outline of a city. Cooper said that he probably was looking at the lights of Perth and its satellite town of Rockingham. This turned out to be correct; many people in Perth turned on their lights so as to be visible to Glenn as he passed over. “That sure was a short day,” he excitedly told Cooper. “That was about the shortest day I’ve ever run into.”

(Off topic, sorry but if only Glenn had suceeded in his 1984 run for the US presidency. Sigh.)

Plus finally this link :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Right_Stuff_(film)

For info. on the Right Stuff movie based on Tom Wolfe’s 1979 book.

For those who don’t know, wish to refresh their memories or find out more. Hope this is enjoyable / useful / interesting for y’all.

Here in Adelaide, South Oz, when our hometown astronaut Andy Thomas , who flew on several Shuttle flights incl. the first one after the loss of the Columbia and stayed on Mir for months was visble in the sky we had a tradition of turning on all the city lights especially.

Think this tradition goes all the way back to the good people of Perth during the flight of John Glenn in Friendship 7 – see below :

@2. kuhnigget :

Anyone remember that awful movie, Marooned? I seem to recall a sequence where one of the astronauts’ home town blinks its lights on and off while their doomed space capsule is orbiting overhead. EDIT: Not saying the ISS is doomed or anything…

Haven’t seen that one or have forgotten if I have but something very similar happens in The Right Stuff movie when John Glenn flies over WA (or was it his hometown?) apparently based on historical fact.

@ 19. miss k (& 30. Trebuchet too) :

I have (a somewhat annoying) habit of making people say “hi” to planets, stars and the moon outside of my bar. My friends get irritated at me frequently, but I always know when I’m not there they are still looking up.

Awwwww! I love that. <3

I don't (wouldn’t) find that annoying at all but rather very cute. Plus clearly effective at getting others to look up and think.

@23. Jim from Queens Says:

I know it’s a trival figure of speech, but at least I wish people and buffs into the sciences wouldn’t describe ISS or any spacecraft as a “tin can”. It demeans the complexity and work that created it and gives the unwashed taxpayer the wrong concept of how “easy” and “needlessly expensive” these craft are when they ought have a healthy appreciation of every unique facet of these creations when NASA public education has never done a good job of promoting the benefits of space science outside a fun roller coaster ride for astronaunts . Even mariners respectfully regard all water craft as “she” not a can or even “it”.

I see your point here & it is a good one although I very much see that word usage as poetic and an acceptable metaphor.

My personal bugbear International SpaceStation~wise is its lack of a real name for the overall station rather than just the individual modules. A bland cumbersonme, clunky unimaginative acronynm doesn’t convery the imagination, inspiration and wonder the ISS should provoke.

I do think the Western public generally fails to appreciate how awesome it and space exploration and development generally is.

Sure a real name for the ISS wouldn’t be a cure-all but I don’t think it would hurt either.

So I’d really love to see the ISS named something better – maybe Serenity or Freedom, the original name back when it was a US station idea or Babylon-1 but, heck, I’d even settle for the Colbert station over the dullness of just ISS!

“I have (a somewhat annoying) habit of making people say “hi” to planets, stars and the moon outside of my bar. My friends get irritated at me frequently, but I always know when I’m not there they are still looking up.”

I frequently say “Hello, pretty moon!” when I see it. I haven’t asked anyone else to do so, however. It actually makes about as much sense as waving at the ISS.