Go outside at 6:19 pm, Shuttle Atlantis coming home overhead (1 Viewer)

DadsDream

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WWL-TV - Weather - Astronomy & Space

Over the skies of New Orleans tonight, both the space shuttle and International Space Station will be visible beginning at 6:19 PM for 5 minutes. At 6:19 look in the northwest sky, and follow both to the southeast sky at 6:26 PM. At 6:23 PM both will appear directly overhead. The weather is looking phenomenal for viewing as temperatures fall to near 50 under clear skies. Both will appear as fast-moving stars.

REAL TIME SHUTTLE TRACKING
http://www.n2yo.com/?s=29391
 
Here's a site I love for stuff like this: www.heavens-above.com

You can get pretty detailed on your exact location, and you can pull up constellation charts for your location on a certain date and time. It also has info on the ISS/space shuttle, the dying satellite, comets, etc. Very fun site!
 
Confession: I went to an open field nearby and stood there watching with my hands clasped, whispering a little prayer. Man, that was cool.
 
Thanks, Dads, that was way cool.

Was outside with our 12 yo son and we were looking to far toward the horizon. Better half came out and spotted both the shuttle and the space station.

If I could see it, anyone can see.and my eyesight sucks. Its not often I get to see something that small in the sky and the few seconds was well worth it.
 
it was still too bright here in Houston....our sunset is a bit later since we're farther west. We also had some low clouds around the horizon and the moon was interfering with the clear spots, so we didn't see anything. It passes again tomorrow night, about 30 minutes later, so we'll try again. We have the kids' telescope ready to go!

By the way, there's a total lunar eclipse this Wednesday evening! http://www.mreclipse.com/LEdata/TLE2008Feb/TLE2008Feb.html
 
Okay, so was that the space station chasing the shuttle, or the other way around. BTW, it went right overhead here in New Iberia.
 
link to page for New Orleans ISS and Space Shuttle sightings for tomorrow night:

http://www.heavens-above.com **edited....see below

*edit* there are indeed separate listings for them at the site; the ISS and the shuttle will still be following similar orbits, it appears, and both should still be visible about the same time tomorrow night, just like tonight. :)

**edit again** the original links were through my free account, so when I signed in again this morning and clicked on them it went to my default location of Cypress TX, which won't do many of you any good :). The new link above is to the general site; first you should register (it's free, but I don't think it's required to register to get info), after you do that go under "configuration" (the first section), and under "current observing site" go to "select from database"...you go through selecting your country, then put in your city...if there's more than one choice, find yours, but first look to the right where it says "neighbors" and click there...there will usually be a list of more specific locations if you're in a larger city. Anyway, save your choice as your default location and you'll be set for finding viewing times, etc., for your area. BTW, the space shuttle info is found under "STS 122".
 
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Atlantis won't actually land until Wednesday. She's still way, way up there.

I've seen two shuttle approaches pass directly overhead in a dark sky on final approach. They lit things up bright enough to cast some eerie pinkish-brown shadows.

The sonic boom made me jump and my kids jump, even though we knew it was coming.
 
Okay, so was that the space station chasing the shuttle, or the other way around. BTW, it went right overhead here in New Iberia.

They're still at roughly the same height and the ISS is many times bigger than the shuttle, so it was probably the brighter of the two...that would mean it was the space station chasing the shuttle, I guess.
 
They're still at roughly the same height and the ISS is many times bigger than the shuttle, so it was probably the brighter of the two...that would mean it was the space station chasing the shuttle, I guess.

The local weather guy just said the shuttle was out in front of the space station. Tomorrow night they will be about a minute apart. They come overhead here about 6:43 p.m.
 
How do you figure out what time they will be over your particular area? I tried those websites above, but I don't know what I am doing, I guess.
 
How do you figure out what time they will be over your particular area? I tried those websites above, but I don't know what I am doing, I guess.

I edited my post above to give more accurate information, but here it is again:

This link www.heavens-above.com is to the general site; first you should register (it's free, but I don't think it's required to register to get info), after you do that go under "configuration" (the first section), and under "current observing site" go to "select from database"...you go through selecting your country, then put in your city...if there's more than one choice, find yours, but first look to the right where it says "neighbors" and click there...there will usually be a list of more specific locations if you're in a larger city. Anyway, save your choice as your default location and you'll be set for finding viewing times, etc., for your specific area. BTW, the space shuttle info is found under "STS 122".

Hope that helps! :)
 

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