[AZ-Observing] Re: Shuttle and ISS Pass Tonight

Thanks for the heads-up, Tom. I pulled the car over at 9:06 pm  
tonight and and the kids and I were treated to an excellent sight of  
the ISS and the Shuttle moving slowly out of the northeast. It's the  
first time I've seen them both traveling together, and definitely a  
first for the kids. They were actually pretty close to each other--I  
estimated them to be about 4.5 seconds apart. The brightest was in  
front, which I would have assumed to be the space station except you  
and Heavens-Above have noted differently...perhaps it was a matter of  
perspective. My daughter was especially excited to see it and we had  
a nice discussion about how long they take to orbit the Earth, how  
the ISS is kept supplied and how long astronauts stay up their before  
they are relieved by the shuttle or a Russian capsule. She decided  
that floating around in a couple cramped cylinders for several weeks  
or months at a spell was not for her and that she'd keep her feet  
planted on the ground thankyouverymuch. My son thought it would be  
pretty awesome though =)

Thanks again for the note,
Jeremy




On Jun 19, 2007, at 12:38 PM, Tom Polakis wrote:

> The Orbiter and the ISS undocked this morning, and will both make  
> low-altitude passes over Arizona skies tonight.  Heavens Above  
> shows a maximum altitude of 12 degrees above the north-northeast  
> horizon for Tempe for both craft.  The Shuttle Orbiter passes over  
> at 9:06:11 MST, and it followed by the ISS 18 seconds later at  
> 9:06:29 MST.  It looks like the prospects for seeing both in the  
> sky at the same time are slim.
>
> Since the closest point on the ground track is in Colorado, the  
> altitudes will be higher for those who live farther north or east  
> in Arizona.
>
> Tom
> --
> See message header for info on list archives or unsubscribing, and  
> please
> send personal replies to the author, not the list.
>

--
See message header for info on list archives or unsubscribing, and please 
send personal replies to the author, not the list.

Other related posts: