Just saw space station fly over...

iSaint · Jul 18, 2005, 09:47 PM

Heaven's Above is a great web site that gives you satellite and astronomy data specific for your location. I checked the site for tonight, and I just took my kids outside to watch the space station fly over. It takes about 3-4 minutes to go across the sky, and looks like a bright planet. Kinda cool...

dmw007 · Jul 18, 2005, 10:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iSaint

Heaven's Above is a great web site that gives you satellite and astronomy data specific for your location. I checked the site for tonight, and I just took my kids outside to watch the space station fly over. It takes about 3-4 minutes to go across the sky, and looks like a bright planet. Kinda cool...

Very cool iSaint. That must have been a neat site seeing the space station fly overhead.

tech4all · Jul 18, 2005, 10:49 PM

That's neat. I just went outside to see if I could see it, but nothing. I think I've seen it before, or it could have been a satellite.

MentalFabric · 03:31 AM

Cool! The other day(night) i noticed a few lights that were certainly not shooting stars floating around up there, including one that both moved and stopped moving, making me wonder if it was the shuttle. the thought that it could be people up there making that tiny light is pretty cool :-) Thanks for the linkage!

gwuMACaddict · Jul 19, 2005, 07:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MentalFabric

Cool! The other day(night) i noticed a few lights that were certainly not shooting stars floating around up there, including one that both moved and stopped moving, making me wonder if it was the shuttle. the thought that it could be people up there making that tiny light is pretty cool :-) Thanks for the linkage!

there is no shuttle in space right now...

the space station is visible even from DC at certain times, so it's very easy to spot. just have to wait until it's high enough in the sky

MacSA · Jul 19, 2005, 07:44 AM

Heavens Above is a fantastic website, ive used it to spot the space station many times. Don't forget to look our for the iridum satellite flares too.

anonymous161 · Jul 19, 2005, 08:06 AM

Space stations.. ha
Next you're going to tell me that humans have flown to the moon.

MentalFabric · Jul 19, 2005, 09:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gwuMACaddict

there is no shuttle in space right now...

the space station is visible even from DC at certain times, so it's very easy to spot. just have to wait until it's high enough in the sky

oops... i'd heard that it was due to take off but hadn't found out it never did. what's the latest news?

iSaint · 09:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MentalFabric

oops... i'd heard that it was due to take off but hadn't found out it never did. what's the latest news?

Still delayed. There was (is) a window of opportunity for takeoff that isn't very long. I'm not sure what that window is, but if it doesn't go soon it goes in September.

EDIT: 500th POST I'd like to thank the Academy, and everyone who supported me in my time here. I hope to continue to be a participating member who has something, however little, however helpful, to offer. peace out!!!

Jay42 · Jul 19, 2005, 10:03 AM

Too many street lights for me.

iSaint · Jul 19, 2005, 10:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jay42

Too many street lights for me.

I live in a small town with plenty of street lights and we saw it with no problem. Some nights it's very bright and can be seen easily. The Heavens-Above site explains brightness (negative numbers are brighter).

Do you live in a big city???

gwuMACaddict · Jul 19, 2005, 10:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jay42

Too many street lights for me.

eh?

i've seen it fly over from downtown washington dc...

Earendil · Jul 19, 2005, 11:00 AM

Well, the reason you see the space station isn't because they have too many 100watt bulbs turned on

You see it because the solar sails, as well as the station its self is reflecting the suns light back to earth. There for I'm sure there are areas of the earth where the ISS can be seen from the streets of NY, while even some middle of nowhere places may not be able to catch a bright glimpse.

In the times that I've watched the ISS go over, it's normally faded from the sky before it reached the horizon.

~Earendil

MentalFabric · Jul 19, 2005, 05:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iSaint

Still delayed. There was (is) a window of opportunity for takeoff that isn't very long. I'm not sure what that window is, but if it doesn't go soon it goes in September.

EDIT: 500th POST I'd like to thank the Academy, and everyone who supported me in my time here. I hope to continue to be a participating member who has something, however little, however helpful, to offer. peace out!!!

thanks! I hope they manage to get it up soon, it's been quite a while… it's beginning to look like they're just (pretty much) going to wait for the next generation of spacecraft!
congrats on the avatar post!

Santaduck · Jul 20, 2005, 07:29 AM

yeah satellites are pretty bright, the shuttle (when it is up there) brighter than most. Sometimes you can see satellites in the wide blue daytime too, it's crazy.

Thanks a lot for the URL, I'll be sure to be taking a look at it... Might beat using Starry Night.

iSaint · Jul 20, 2005, 10:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Santaduck

yeah satellites are pretty bright, the shuttle (when it is up there) brighter than most. Sometimes you can see satellites in the wide blue daytime too, it's crazy.

Thanks a lot for the URL, I'll be sure to be taking a look at it... Might beat using Starry Night.

I find different uses for each...

I have an old version of Starry Night that runs on Classic. It's pretty cool but I wish I could afford a newer version. Also, Classic doesn't shut down after I close Starry Night so I have to do it manually. But that's another thread for another day (and has been discussed in the Tiger forums).

Nickygoat · Jul 20, 2005, 11:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iSaint

Heaven's Above is a great web site that gives you satellite and astronomy data specific for your location. I checked the site for tonight, and I just took my kids outside to watch the space station fly over. It takes about 3-4 minutes to go across the sky, and looks like a bright planet. Kinda cool...

That's great - unfortunately there's no pass in the next 10 days over London, but there is a Keyhole going over me at 22:17 tonight. I'll have a look and wave at Uncle Sam

Mr. Anderson · Jul 20, 2005, 02:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gwuMACaddict

eh?

i've seen it fly over from downtown washington dc...

So have I - if you get it at the right time of the night, around just after sunset, it can be quite cool and a brighter star than anything else out there (except the planets).

I haven't seen it when the Shuttle or Soyuz has been docked, but its supposed to be even brighter.

I also managed to see MIR a couple days before it went down from a park along the Potomac in Old Town Alexandria - so its not hard to see these things in a big city.

D

Jul 18, 2005, 09:47 PM	#1
iSaint macrumors 601 Join Date: May 2004 Location: South Mississippi y'all, near the water!	Just saw space station fly over... Heaven's Above is a great web site that gives you satellite and astronomy data specific for your location. I checked the site for tonight, and I just took my kids outside to watch the space station fly over. It takes about 3-4 minutes to go across the sky, and looks like a bright planet. Kinda cool... __________________ Not Applicable
	0

Jul 18, 2005, 10:49 PM	#3
tech4all macrumors 68030 Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: NorCal	That's neat. I just went outside to see if I could see it, but nothing. I think I've seen it before, or it could have been a satellite. __________________ techis4all
	0

Jul 19, 2005, 03:26 AM	#4
MentalFabric macrumors 6502 Join Date: Mar 2004	Cool! The other day(night) i noticed a few lights that were certainly not shooting stars floating around up there, including one that both moved and stopped moving, making me wonder if it was the shuttle. the thought that it could be people up there making that tiny light is pretty cool :-) Thanks for the linkage! __________________ Mental Fabric An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind Last edited by MentalFabric; Jul 19, 2005 at 03:31 AM.
	0

Jul 19, 2005, 08:06 AM	#7
anonymous161 macrumors 6502 Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Where the wind comes sweeping down the plains	Space stations.. ha Next you're going to tell me that humans have flown to the moon. __________________ loading...
	0

Jul 19, 2005, 11:00 AM	#13
Earendil macrumors 65816 Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Washington	Well, the reason you see the space station isn't because they have too many 100watt bulbs turned on You see it because the solar sails, as well as the station its self is reflecting the suns light back to earth. There for I'm sure there are areas of the earth where the ISS can be seen from the streets of NY, while even some middle of nowhere places may not be able to catch a bright glimpse. In the times that I've watched the ISS go over, it's normally faded from the sky before it reached the horizon. ~Earendil __________________ Current: MacMini 2ghz / iPod Touch 2g / iPhone 4g Retired: Alum Powerbook 1.25ghz / 4gb iPod Mini "ooo! They have the internet on computers now!" - Homer J. Simpson
	0

Jul 19, 2005, 07:44 AM	#6
MacSA macrumors 68000 Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: UK	Heavens Above is a fantastic website, ive used it to spot the space station many times. Don't forget to look our for the iridum satellite flares too.
	0

Jul 19, 2005, 10:03 AM	#10
Jay42 macrumors 65816 Join Date: Jul 2005	Too many street lights for me.
	0

Jul 20, 2005, 07:29 AM	#15
Santaduck macrumors 6502a Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Honolulu	yeah satellites are pretty bright, the shuttle (when it is up there) brighter than most. Sometimes you can see satellites in the wide blue daytime too, it's crazy. Thanks a lot for the URL, I'll be sure to be taking a look at it... Might beat using Starry Night. __________________ The Santaduck G5: The World's First Two-Bit Duck www.macologist.org - Mac Gaming Expert Solutions & Mod Download: BF1942 UT2004 etc. www.santaduck.com- Mac Gaming Resources and Newsblog www.foosballheaven.com - Foosball
	0


MacRumors Forums > Mac Community > Community Discussion > Current Events

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version Email this Page	Search this Thread: Advanced Search
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

Similar Threads
thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Spaces issue (empty spaces at login, carried over from SL?)	JonDownin	Mac OS X 10.7 Lion	0	Jul 27, 2011 06:13 AM
Spaces preferences carried over to Lion?	swedefish	Mac OS X 10.7 Lion	2	Jul 21, 2011 12:51 PM
Night photos from the International Space Station	iBlue	Current Events	38	Nov 19, 2010 09:57 AM
the space shuttle and space station	obeygiant	Picture Gallery	7	Sep 21, 2006 09:26 PM
Just saw this... New Marathon? Just look...	Soulstorm	Games	31	Aug 11, 2005 09:14 AM