The Shuttle is Flying!

[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

[Cynette]

That was GREAT!!! Clear Sky tonight!

Neighborhood kids and three moms! (4 if you include me) We set up the telescopes to try to identify the planets while waiting for the big moment! Didn't do really well so we because of ancient equipment so we finally settled on the moon. Cell phone alarms told us when to stop messing around and start looking for the satellites. Hey, there it is! No, False Alarm! No, wait, you're right, that is it. Hey there is two of them!!

The moms got such a kick out of seeing the two objects following one another. I told them I'd let them all know when the next interesting night sky event is happening! Meteor showers in August? Dana, if popcorn is for the ISS / shuttle spotting, what do I serve for meteor showers?

I wish the shuttle crew all the best as they make their return tomorrow! I hope it is sunny skies and smooth landings!

[cooker52]

I'm sorry to say that I missed the ISS (Still blame the houses and trees and being in the middle of a town). But, at the moment of time when I should have been able to see the ISS, I saw a different satellite- FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC. Here is the wiki of the 3 sets of satellites. It was going in the opposite direction and thanks to my software, I was able to identify it. Very impressive satellite, I must say.
Here's a picture.

[Roger]

I saw the two flying about an outstretched fist apart. Straight down my (short) driveway, west to east. (Not near the Moon at all.) I've got tall trees all around, but they dodged them all, and the clouds, too.

The first one was brighter, and I thought it was the ISS, being bigger and all, but it was the Shuttle. Must be because of the doors being open.

[Cynette]

Originally Posted by Roger

I saw the two flying about an outstretched fist apart. Straight down my (short) driveway, west to east. (Not near the Moon at all.) I've got tall trees all around, but they dodged them all, and the clouds, too.

The first one was brighter, and I thought it was the ISS, being bigger and all, but it was the Shuttle. Must be because of the doors being open.

In our view, they passed under the moon, but with the arc it was sort of near the moon. All the sky watch websites I found said the ISS was first and the Shuttle was second. Did you see it described differently somewhere?

Thanks a lot Seth (cooker52), now I'll be out watching for the FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC to go by.

[KathieK]

My sister is one of the original Challenger Center for Space Science Education Fellows and is always letting me know about things like this. She and my mom stopped overnight for a visit last night and as soon as they hopped out of the car they started pointing out Venus, etc. and sure enough, the ISS and Shuttle came into view! It was truly awesome.
I'm hoping when my kids are parents they will tell their kids about how I would let them stay up late and lay in the backyard to watch for planets, etc. (With my luck they'll probably tell my grandkids how I never did any housecleaning! )