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The ISS

Davie

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Davie

Davie

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This may be a daft question and it might even be in the wrong place .....

Anyway tonight before the kids went to bed the eldest (4 1/2) usually looks at Stellarium to see whats about and we saw that the ISS was going to go past but not for a while so he was disappointed he was going to miss it.

Dad however had other ideas :rolleyes:

I headed outside about 10 minutes before it was due to shoot past and stayed out for a another 10 after but never saw it. I thought I was in with a chance as it was going to pass right through the tail of Ursa Major.

Although it's a bit patchy with cloud tonight I could still see where it should have been really well. I remember looking at satellites when I was a youngster and so thought something the size of the ISS would have been easy to spot with the naked eye.

Did i blink and miss it or is it something else?

cheers in advance

Davie

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LukeSkywatcher

LukeSkywatcher

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It is bright and it takes a couple of minutes to traverse the sky. The Heavens Above website gives visible fly over timings and where to look. You should not have to wait long for the next one and it should have the shuttle in tow for a while shortly.

I have seen the ISS pass over a few times but i have never seen the shuttle in tow. That is one thing i will do my BEST to observe before the shuttle is shelved.

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Tantalus

Tantalus

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What time was the pass that you wanted to observe, Davie?

The problem is Stellarium will show you when the ISS passes over, but not all of those passes are visible passes. You can only see a satellite when the angle between the satellite, observer, and the Sun is less than a certain angle (I think it's called the t-angle?) - beyond that angle the satellite passes into the Earth's shadow and cannot be viewed from Earth.

If you want a list of visible passes then set up an account on Heavens Above, put in your observer location, and then it'll generate a list of visible passes for your position. If you click on an entry in the list it'll even give you a printable map of it's track across the night sky.

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Davie

Davie

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Thanks for the replies :eek:

I was looking to see it at around 20:55 or so tonight. I see it passes by again at around about midnight but its a lot lower in the sky so from where I am there's little to no chance of seeing it then.

Just had a look at the heavens above site and its times are different to those in stellarium so that might be the reason :rolleyes:

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Davie

Davie

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in Stellarium, configuration settings, plugins, satellites make sure you have updated the TLE elements or have it set to automatically update the TLEs

Just checked and I must have set it up to update every 72 hours or that's the standard configuration, moved it to 24 hours but don't know if that will make any difference.

cheers for the pointer though :rolleyes:

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Skylook123

Skylook123

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The ISS loses altitude quite rapidly, needing a boost now and then either from the attached capsules or from the Shuttle when it is attached. As a result, the ephemeris can be misleading. The result of the decay is to speed up, so it arrives earlier than the ephemeris predicts, or with a boost it arrives later than the ephemeris predicts. That's why having the latest and greatest TLE is very important for finding the ISS. Heaven's Above has a link to a plot of the altitude of the ISS; quite a saw-tooth.

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RobSay

RobSay

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TI was looking to see it at around 20:55 or so tonight. ...

I think that would have been a none-visible pass (ISS in shadow)

Fridays visible pass was ~1min at 19.20. Saturday is your best option with a much longer pass: 3 minutes at 18:37

and you get the Shuttle for free

and you get the Johannes Kepler module

...

and my weather forecast says .. maybe .. if the rain clears :rolleyes:

NASA do a fairly succinct summary: Human Space Flight (HSF) - Sightings

(you'll need to set the location)

Given the speed, locate with eyes and then use Bino's. I have much respect for those who can locate and track with a telescope (and take pictures!).

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Skylook123

Skylook123

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As the Space Shuttle Discovery is approaching its final docking with the International Space Station, it will find quite a parking lot. Here is the current list of parked items at ISS:

PROGRESS-M 09M

PROGRESS-M 07M

SOYUZ-TMA 01M

SOYUZ-TMA 20

HTV-2 (KOUNOTORI 2)

Plus, the Johannes Keplar telescope is in the same orbit, ahead of the pack.

The below link discusses a proposal to man one of the Soyuz vehicles and fly off to take a picture of the ISS with all of the types of craft bunking at the ol' farmhouse in space. No scientific reason.

Spaceflight Now | STS-133 Shuttle Report | NASA considers unique photo op during Discovery mission

I don't know if they have decided to pursue this photo opportunity

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Adrian

Adrian

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2 passes tonight, i find this website good for times, direction and duration

Human Space Flight (HSF) - Sightings

That's the site I have bookmarked for ISS times - I find it nice and accurate.

Saw the russian freighter ahead of the ISS when I was camping over the summer (It was parked ahead after its auto guidance went a bit wrong on the first try)

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leenewtoastro

leenewtoastro

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Why does the iss travel at its speed? 14k mph?

I guess its the simple reason that's the speed it arrives at space since that speed is needed to exit the atmosphere. You'd think that speed is fraught with danger. Maybe slowing down would need as much power as needed for the assent.? Would reentry be heat less at low speeds and is speed "needed" to achieve it?

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m_j_lyons

m_j_lyons

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If you can catch the ISS w/docked shuttle w/in about 24 hours of returning home you occasionally catch the "waste dumps" of the shuttle tanks which make the combined ISS/SS look like they are in a nebula cloud. Two years ago they passed over and the cloud was fully the size of my fist at arm length against the sky.

Nothing like seeing the "Constellation Urea" as it passes overhead.

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meteoriot

meteoriot

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If you can catch the ISS w/docked shuttle w/in about 24 hours of returning home you occasionally catch the "waste dumps" of the shuttle tanks which make the combined ISS/SS look like they are in a nebula cloud. Two years ago they passed over and the cloud was fully the size of my fist at arm length against the sky.

Nothing like seeing the "Constellation Urea" as it passes overhead.

I had read that they recycle the 'liquid' waste and the 'solid' waste is sealed in bags on the ISS. It's on wikipedia. Is this incorrect?

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