SpaceX and other space stuff

[Wood and Wire]

Back in the 80's or 90's I watched the ISS fly over with the Shuttle in hot pursuit about a second or three behind closing in for docking. Fantastic!

This link will show when the ISS will fly over a particular location:

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And this link shows where the ISS is in orbit and it's orbital path:

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Cool.

I did see the ISS & Shuttle come over London, when they were doing the repair to Hubble - luckily it was at sundown, so it was really catching the light, otherwise the city light pollution would have scuppered the view.

Nothing like as good as the view I got last night though - less light pollution where I am at the moment (and streetlights have since been redesigned to reduce light pollution levels), the ISS is much bigger now, and the fact that it was in a clear sky, heading towards the sun made it stick out like a sore thumb.


I remember being at Space Shuttle Discovery's final launch, and then later that evening talking to my parents, back in the U.K. who had just watched the shuttle chasing the ISS across their night sky (5 or 6 hours later in the evening relative to launch in Florida). I would have liked to have seen both, but at least I got to see Discovery land too.

 

[Wood and Wire]

Hmmm. I checked out that website a few times to track the ISS. When I came through my area, I looked up and couldn't really see anything distinguishable from the other stars. I did see something moving, and figured that must have been it.
Are you using a telescope or other kind of device to enhance your vision?
By the way, I am not questioning you or @RayWithFlats at all. I am just trying to figure out what I am doing wrong.

-Mike

Bear in mind I'm in a completely different part of the world from you.

But no. Just the naked eye.

I've got pretty low levels of light pollution, the are isn't too built up, and I'm only a couple of minutes walk from very open sky, if needs be, plus the time of day meant that it was reflecting the sun over the horizon, without the sun lighting the rest of creation.

 

[MJ5150]

Bear in mind I'm in a completely different part of the world from you.

But no. Just the naked eye.

I've got pretty low levels of light pollution, the are isn't too built up, and I'm only a couple of minutes walk from very open sky, if needs be, plus the time of day meant that it was reflecting the sun over the horizon, without the sun lighting the rest of creation.

That may be my issue.
We have zero light pollution where we live, but it's in the woods. I can't see the horizon from our house without driving about 10 minutes to an open clear area.
I just noticed the max height for Tuesday is 65 and Wednesday is 88. I may have a better shot with those times than the ones that come in 25 or under.

-Mike

 

[ahc]

That may be my issue.
We have zero light pollution where we live, but it's in the woods. I can't see the horizon from our house without driving about 10 minutes to an open clear area.
I just noticed the max height for Tuesday is 65 and Wednesday is 88. I may have a better shot with those times than the ones that come in 25 or under.

-Mike

Take the 10 minute drive. It's worth it. I'm regretting not going to a more open area on the 4th to see the aircraft heading to the flyover over the Mall. I could hear them very well but the trees around my house obscured the view. I really wanted to see FIFI the B-29, the P-51 and the B-2. I did catch a quick glimpse of a flash of blue from a couple of jets that I'm sure were the Blue Angels.

 

[RayWithFlats]

Are you using a telescope or other kind of device to enhance your vision?

Yeah, naked eye here too. As has been mentioned the time of day is crucial, if it’s passing over when the sun has just dropped below the horizon it’ll be lit up like a Christmas tree. Otherwise it’ll be just another moving point of light like a satellite.

It’s well worth working out a good time to try and get a view. It’s pretty mind-blowing to see it up there. I was guilty of not really giving the ISS project the respect it deserved until I saw a brilliant programme on British TV, there were ex-crew-members like Chris Hadfield and Mike Massimino in the studio and a live linkup with the crew up there at the time. I hadn’t really given enough thought to how amazing the whole thing is until I realised that when I was a kid in the ‘80s people visited space but now people live there. Truly a massive step forward.

 

[MJ5150]

I saw it!!!!!! I saw it!!!!!! I saw Bob, Doug, Anatoli, Ivan, and Chris.
I stayed up for the 4:31 AM fly by for my area. It was cloudy, but as 4:31 started getting closer, a breeze came along and cleared up the clouds for me. The ISS eventually caught up with the clouds and got behind them so I missed the last 20-30 seconds as it went out of view.
Oh my word was that cool. So cool. I was getting goosebumps watching it fly by. Like a goofball, I waved to them as they flew by.
Thank you @RayWithFlats and @Wood and Wire for setting me straight on how to see it.
I even downloaded a precision compass for my mobile phone to be sure I looked in the correct direction. Sure enough, at exactly 4:31 AM at exactly WNW, it came into view chasing the clouds that were blowing away from it.
Man, that was so cool. Now I am hooked. Maybe I need a telescope.
Here's what I saw:

-Mike

 

[RayWithFlats]

I saw it!!!!!! I saw it!!!!!! I saw Bob, Doug, Anatoli, Ivan, and Chris.
I stayed up for the 4:31 AM fly by for my area. It was cloudy, but as 4:31 started getting closer, a breeze came along and cleared up the clouds for me. The ISS eventually caught up with the clouds and got behind them so I missed the last 20-30 seconds as it went out of view.
Oh my word was that cool. So cool. I was getting goosebumps watching it fly by. Like a goofball, I waved to them as they flew by.
Thank you @RayWithFlats and @Wood and Wire for setting me straight on how to see it.
I even downloaded a precision compass for my mobile phone to be sure I looked in the correct direction. Sure enough, at exactly 4:31 AM at exactly WNW, it came into view chasing the clouds that were blowing away from it.
Man, that was so cool. Now I am hooked. Maybe I need a telescope.
Here's what I saw:

View attachment 3894797

-Mike

Awesome! Glad to help in any small way!

 

[Stewie26]

I love the launch pad Rocket Lab uses and that camera looking back at earth as it climbs into space. Unfortunately, this one didn't end well for them today.





-Mike

I kind of liked watching all the sheep grazing right in front of the launch site.

 

[akrachanko]

@MJ5150, it's super cool you manged to catch the ISS. I like to try and catch it when it's coming over, but this time of year, I'm just not into getting up at 3:30 to try and see it.

Here's a 30 second exposure I did with my camera when I caught it last year, 10-9-2019. The contrast is bumped up to make it stand out more. I too am surrounded by woods.

When I was sitting around with my family on Saturday for the 4th of July, I actually was just looking up at the sky and managed to catch 5 different satellites going overhead, which is the most I've gotten in any night of looking at the stars. I don't know what they are, but they're not too hard to spot. They typically look like smaller, dimmer stars, and move across the sky a bit slower than the ISS, since they're typically higher up, and need a lower velocity to maintain their orbits. It's only before dawn and after dusk you can see them, since these are the times the ground will be dark, but the satellites above you will be getting light from the sun.

 

[MJ5150]

Watching the launches is way cool, but so are the SpaceX landings.



-Mike

 

[Downunderwonder]

I saw it!!!!!! I saw it!!!!!! I saw Bob, Doug, Anatoli, Ivan, and Chris.
I stayed up for the 4:31 AM fly by for my area. It was cloudy, but as 4:31 started getting closer, a breeze came along and cleared up the clouds for me. The ISS eventually caught up with the clouds and got behind them so I missed the last 20-30 seconds as it went out of view.
Oh my word was that cool. So cool. I was getting goosebumps watching it fly by. Like a goofball, I waved to them as they flew by.
Thank you @RayWithFlats and @Wood and Wire for setting me straight on how to see it.
I even downloaded a precision compass for my mobile phone to be sure I looked in the correct direction. Sure enough, at exactly 4:31 AM at exactly WNW, it came into view chasing the clouds that were blowing away from it.
Man, that was so cool. Now I am hooked. Maybe I need a telescope.
Here's what I saw:

View attachment 3894797

-Mike

I haven't done that in ages. I got a bit spoiled the first time I looked it up. It went almost overhead, just after dark, clear night, hauling ass across the sky until it lost the sun.

The site I used to look it up was way more user friendly than the one ^. I will see if I can find it again.

 

[Downunderwonder]

I found the ISS tracking link in my browser. It's the same page but they have ''improved'' it.

It used to show the paths and times and expected brightness. Altogether a much more intuitive presentation than this new simple version.

 

[MJ5150]

Looking good for Wednesday, just before 9:00 AM PST:
SpaceX’s next batch of Starlink satellites back on the launch pad – Spaceflight Now.

SpaceX.

-Mike

 

[MJ5150]

I saw something on TV that said on the ISS there’s no laundry facilities so they throw everything used in the Soyuz they came up in and then release it to burn up in the upper atmosphere. Remember, next time you see a shooting star it could be a load of flaming space underpants!

Keep your eyes out for those flaming underpants. The Russians sent off a load today:
Russian Cargo Ship Leaves, Crew Tests Dragon’s Comfort Factors – Space Station

-Mike

 

[Winslow]

The Russians sent off a load today:

Speaking of which...

While they were setting up Crew Dragon for the test, the three NASA astronauts also had time for ultrasound eye scans, microfluid studies and orbital plumbing work.

Did somebody specializing in euphemisms break the space toilet again?

 

[ahc]

Comet anyone?

A Naked-Eye Comet Is Soaring Through the Sky—Here's How to See It

 

[RayWithFlats]

Wow, that clip from the ISS was amazing. I just saw the story in my newsfeed but it didn’t have that clip.

 

[ahc]

Yeah that was great.

 

[MJ5150]

July 19th and the 21st are looking to be a cool evening up my way if the weather holds out.
The ISS will be flying over just after 9:00 PM, a little bit after sunset. I'm thinking we'll get a more glorious view of Bob and Doug and the rest of the crew that day.

-Mike

 

[RayWithFlats]

Will you get a good view of the comet, too? Could be a two-fer, they say just after sunset will be a good viewing time by then.