ISS - International Space Station Marathon

Now this is exciting! (okay, admittedly, I'm a spacegeek)

If you're like me and love to track and watch satellites passing overhead, this weekend is for you! The ISS is going to have a marathon this weekend.

From NASA:

If you've never seen a spaceship with your own eyes, now's your chance.

The International Space Station (ISS) is about to make a remarkable series of flybys over the United States. Beginning this 4th of July weekend, the station will appear once, twice, and sometimes three times a day for many days in a row. No matter where you live, you should have at least a few opportunities to see the biggest spaceship ever built.

NASA's ISS tracker:

The marathon of space station flybys won't stop until mid-to-late July (depending on your location). That gives space shuttle Endeavour, currently scheduled to launch on July 11th, time to reach the space station and join the show. As the shuttle approaches station for docking, many observers will witness a memorable double flyby—Endeavour and the ISS sailing side by side across the starry night sky.

A tracking site I like better, that is somewhat more personalized and user-friendly is www.heavens-above.com. Here, you can log in with a free account, set up your own personal viewing parameters, and get exact times the ISS and other known satellites will fly over your area. There is also a feature which displays a map of your area, showing the flyover direction as well as when it will be visible to you.

Happy watching!!!

reply to post by argentus


I have planted a standard, and tossed a celestial mass of incandescent gas in your general direction, kind sir!

Your generosity knows no bounds, you are saluted!!

Cheers :

reply to post by argentus


Thank-You very much.

I shall set up an account at heavens above and try and see the ISS.

Love ATS as I would never know about things like this without it.

reply to post by argentus

Thanks for the info

I've always found that the winter is a better viewing time (in general) since there are more hours of darkness -- and thus more of a chance to see it during normal "awake" hours.

However, it looks as if there will be some good opportunities to see the ISS this month. There are several bright-magnitude/high "max altitude" passes that occur at times that I am normally awake.

The highlight of my ISS viewing experience came in 2006 when I saw the ISS and the Space Shuttle (which had just undocked) in the sky at the same time as two bright and distinct dots flying close together along the same course. That was special.

reply to post by weedwhacker


Ha! incandescent gas! Stellar! That, mixed with the SO2 from the Sarchev Volcano should make for some beautiful sunsets

reply to post by tribewilder

You betcha! You can subscribe to email alerts on www.spaceweather.com also.


reply to post by Soylent Green Is People


Yep, and there are times when you should be able to see the ISS twice within one night.

The math involved in this seems amazing to me, Soylent. All these gradual manouvers for a docking on the 11th or so. That should be a great view also. I remember seeing the ISS and challenger in tandem pass right overhead here -- beauitiful and bright, cruising along at a cool and easy 18,000 mph

From NASA:

The marathon of space station flybys won't stop until mid-to-late July (depending on your location). That gives space shuttle Endeavour, currently scheduled to launch on July 11th, time to reach the space station and join the show. As the shuttle approaches station for docking, many observers will witness a memorable double flyby—Endeavour and the ISS sailing side by side across the starry night sky.

So, similar to the 2006 event Soylent was talking about, many of us should be able to see a double flyby. I found last time that it made a pretty crappy photo op, in that I have a great shot of two points of light in a black field, OR two streaks of light in a black field Not really a frameable shot. Wonderful to see, though.

Originally posted by argentus
So, similar to the 2006 event Soylent was talking about, many of us should be able to see a double flyby. I found last time that it made a pretty crappy photo op, in that I have a great shot of two points of light in a black field, OR two streaks of light in a black field

Not really a frameable shot. Wonderful to see, though.

Seems like the most amazing photo opportunities also bring the worst luck. Minutes after STS-120's undocking it was making a great pass overhead. I was able to track it with the telescope and see the shuttle only a few hundred feet from the space station, but due to the sun angle it was brighter than I was expecting and the pictures came out completely over-exposed. The best frame I had was where both spacecraft streaked out of the view midway into an exposure due to a tracking computer hiccup:
farm3.static.flickr.com...
Definately not frameable. Hopefully this mission will give me a chance to redeem myself.

[edit on 6-7-2009 by ngchunter]

UPDATE:

From spaceweather: WHAT'S FOLLOWING THE ISS?

Sky watchers are reporting a "mysterious satellite" following the International Space Station. It trails the ISS by about one minute, relatively faint, but definitely there. Mystery solved: The follower is Progress 33, a Russian supply ship. On July 12th, it will come within meters of the space station to test a new automated docking system. Check the Simple Satellite Tracker for flyby times--and get two spaceships for the price of one.