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Iss And Sts-133 (Discovery)


Mesosphere

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Posted
  • Location: Haddington, East Lothian, Scotland
  • Weather Preferences: Snow, Thunderstorms, Warm summer evenings
  • Location: Haddington, East Lothian, Scotland

STS-133 launched the other day from the KSC in Florida , and is now chasing the ISS around the globe preparing for docking at 7.16pm UK Time this evening. Thanks to the stations current orbital inclination , there are many viewing oppurtunites in the next few days and into march :).

Of particular intrest are tonights 2 passes over the UK , times for these can be found at http://www.heavens-above.com/ (register for free).

For my location the ISS is passing over at 6.36pm and 8.11pm , with the 1st pass having the shuttle very close but behind the station , as docking is occuring les than 45 mins after. So if your skies are clear tonight , go out and take a look. The ISS will be unmissible with the shuttle being the fainter dot behind it , with a slight orange hue.

Enjoy the Show and good luck to the crew of STS-133

Live NASA TV coverage of the docking at http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html

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Posted
  • Location: Sunderland
  • Weather Preferences: Hot Summer, Snowy winter and thunderstorms all year round!
  • Location: Sunderland

Thanks for the heads up Calum...:) ......For me viewing times are 6:30pm & 8:02pm tracking from the SW quadrant of the sky to the SE quadrant

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Posted
  • Location: South Shields Tyne & Wear half mile from the coast.
  • Location: South Shields Tyne & Wear half mile from the coast.

Yes Calum Ive been watching for about 30 mins now, fascinating stuff. ISS should be even brighter tonight with the SS Discovery in tow, hope the skies are clear enough for a great sighting.

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Posted
  • Location: Lower Brynamman, nr Ammanford, 160-170m a.s.l.
  • Location: Lower Brynamman, nr Ammanford, 160-170m a.s.l.

ISS was bright enough to see through the clouds and light pollution in London, sadly Discovery wasn't.

For predictions, I find http://www.heavens-above.com is good, although it's not always great for things like shuttles or Soyuzes as their timings tend to change rapidly.

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Posted
  • Location: St. Albans, Herts
  • Location: St. Albans, Herts

For anyone in the South of England, the docked shuttle and ISS are due to go directly overhead at around 6ish tonight. It's predicted to be mag -3.6 so should be a pretty sight.

Well worth a look, especially with even just a pair of binoculars/small telescope.

You can add your location here to find precise times and tracks.

http://www.heavens-above.com/selecttown.asp?CountryID=UK

Happy sky watching...:D

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Posted
  • Location: St. Albans, Herts
  • Location: St. Albans, Herts

Just had the most amazing view of it going over: really, really bright and absolutely unmistakable.

Could even see the panels as it slipped down to the east. There's another pass in an hour or so and then two more tomorrow, so if you didn't catch it, well worth a look then.

:good:

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Posted
  • Location: Evesham, Worcs, Albion
  • Location: Evesham, Worcs, Albion

just looked and saw I've missed th 18z crossing and the next isn't so bright and os lower in the sky - but looks quite good for ~18.30 tomorrow :)

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Posted
  • Location: St. Albans, Herts
  • Location: St. Albans, Herts

Just watched it pass over :)

Amazing isn't it, though quite a difference in brightness.

The 18.30ish tomoz one looks to be similar to tonight's first pass, which was just superb! Am keeping everything crossed for a clear sky, although I don't think we'll get it.

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  • 1 month later...
Posted
  • Location: South Shields Tyne & Wear half mile from the coast.
  • Location: South Shields Tyne & Wear half mile from the coast.

Three astronauts aboard the ISS have been ordered to seek shelter in the Soyuz capsule because a small piece of 'space junk' is drifting dangerously close to them. The 'junk' is debris from a Chinese satellite that was deliberately targeted as part of a weapons test back in 2007. Quite surprised this has not happened before now considering how much 'junk' is currently orbiting earth..

http://www.wftv.com/...658/detail.html

Edited by NL
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