The Shuttle is Flying!

[Roger]

What's really cool is watching it blink out going into the Earth's shadow, or (if you're lucky) watching it pop out of Earth's shadow. Now you see it, now you don't.

[Roger]

So everything is slowly coming back on line after all the computers on the ISS crashed. The Russians spent the midnight shift (Earth time, of course) separating their stuff from the ISS, putting them on autonomous mode (which means to them putting on battery power) and somehow getting everything rebooted on their end. A couple of fire alarms later (literally, but no fires) and we're back in business. I guess they were seriously thinking of abandoning ship if things didn't get back up.

The good news (speaking as a programmer) is they're saying it wasn't a software error. The bad news is that if its a hardware problem, it'll take a while for manufacturing to admit to it (also speaking as a programmer .)

[Roger]

Okay, so there's not much chatter here about ISS/Shuttle activity. Half the week I'm away from my computer which can get a live feed, but I'll be on line Thursday for the landing.

According to the NASA schedule (which is always subject to change) it'll be just before 2pm EDT, so if you get on by 1:30pm EDT you can watch the nail-biting land/no-land decisions. The last landing I watched they were keeping a careful eye on the weather and how this one cloud may get too close. Once you decide to land there's no going back up!

Sigh. I can't wait for 2001 when this becomes a ho-hum commute.

[Rosiebotboss]

For all you space nuts out there on CD, the following is the link to track the ISS flyover/sightings. Navigate to your location, look up the data, go outside at the required time, look up......BINGO! There it is! (If there are no clouds)

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata...ngs/index.html

[Cynette]

Originally Posted by Rosiebotboss

For all you space nuts out there on CD...

You have no idea how much trouble this is causing my family! Every night I'm out there (sometimes twice depending on the schedule) annoying my family and especially my daughter since I always text her with the 5 minute warning. Her response last night..."Aww mama, you are nerdy"

Last night I had my son (age 20) and about a half dozen neighborhood kids with me. I told them that it would be about as bright as the planet Venus that was visible near the moon last night. None of them knew that was a planet! What are they teaching in school these days!?

And then the ISS/Space Shuttle flyover was outstanding! The kids were definately impressed! My son was so proud that he had such a cool mom! I can't wait to look tonight to see the difference with the two objects separated! I hope it isn't cloudy! Am I really nerdy?

[JaneYoung]

Originally Posted by mocat1530

Am I really nerdy?

That answer would be yes, Cynette.
Take heart, nerdy = way cool.

Enjoy it. May the sky be cloudless tonight.
Jane

[Rosiebotboss]

I have had several nights of flyovers where I had neighbors and the kids in my backyard also.....the kids thought I was out of my mind.........then as they got older, they understood........

"My dad makes the space suit and life support hardware on ISS and Shuttle!", they would tell their teachers.

Make popcorn for those "double fly" nights. Like tonight.......

Keep bringing the kids out. They'll understand later.

[Roger]

Originally Posted by mocat1530

Am I really nerdy?

Getting there.

Ask again when you get binoculars to see ISS/Shuttle up close.

Even better when you get a telescope to look at (I think) Saturn coming up in the east in the evening. May be Jupiter. Or Mars. (ISS is too quick for a telescope.)

When you start searching for Mercury...

[cooker52]

Missed the one for today. I'll try to remember the one for tomorrow. I should be up at that time (Just before 11 PM) Now I'm going to reinstall my skywatching software. It's been a while since I have had it up and running.

[Cynette]

Last night's dual flyover was not visible because of clouds.

The space flight list says it was updated today, but it still looks like the two objects are flying together and that the shuttle will be up on Thursday and Friday night.

Do any of you regular satellite watchers have a sense for how far apart the shuttle and the ISS will be tonight? I'm hoping the weather cooperates for one last shuttle viewing for this mission!

[Roger]

The map on the NASA video shows them still together. Did they separate yet? Gosh, I guess I'm not paying attention!

NASA schedule still has them landing Thursday afternoon, deorbit burn starting at 12:50pm EDT; KSC landing at 1:55pm EDT.

[Rosiebotboss]

Yes, seperation was yesterday afternoon......

[KelliV]

I saw the dual flyover last night and it was amazing. I convinced my friend to go to the park with me, little did he know we were going to watch the sky forever and he was going to get a mini lecture fom me.
There should be another one tonight in the Chicagoland area at 9:53pm starting in the West and going to the East/South East so I will be embracing my inner nerd and watching.

[Roger]

The weatherman on one of the Boston TV stations got in on the act. Of course, I missed most of his talk, but the upshot was the Shuttle (or maybe the ISS) is supposed to pass close to the Moon this evening, which, by the silly sightings webpage, is at 9:17+. The clouds are already gathering...

The reason I call it silly, is the old website had a simple map showing the sky. This one you have to figure out azimuth and elevations. 350 Deg E of N -- isn't that like 10 deg west of north? This is why I got a computer, to do these calcs for me!

[cooker52]

Perfectly Clear night. Looked at the moon through my binoculars and got an astonishing view! Better than any of the pictures. The only thing I'm missing is a laptop with my skycharts to track the ISS. I would go and get my telescope out, but I really don't want to wake up my brother and sister. I keep running in and out to see the time, charts, and look at the stars. What a View! To bad I live in the middle of town. Trees and houses everywhere