Space Shuttle

[miss skippy]

Hi did anyone see the space shuttle fly over last night? It flew over my part of Kent at 17.40ish. What was the thing following it? I have tried Google and couldn't find and answer.

[Myriad2112]

it was an alien!

[lollyone]

WOW! how did you know where to look for it? We'v just moved into a house on a hill and I'm constantly looking up at the sky and want to see something.

[miss skippy]

I was told about it yesterday afternoon about 3pm by an elderly lady who has a son into these sort of things. She told me it was coming over at 5.41 from the north west and so I just stood and waited from about 5.30 and there it appeared. You certainly could tell it was not a plane or an alien as it didn't have a snail trail or green flashing lights etc. I was totally in awe.

[funkymoped]

ive seen the international space station many a time. the shuttle on the other hand doesnt venture over Britain too often.
if you saw 2 objects, im guessing it was the I.S.S. being followed by a supply ship.
if you saw the Shuttle, you did well !!!
:-)

you can plot and follow the I.S.S. and Shuttle by logging onto
www.nasa.gov/home/index.html

sorry i did try a link but it didnt work !!!

[lollyone]

Excellent thanks. Better get my boots on at 7.15 then! We are talking 'with the naked eye' here arent we?

[miss skippy]

I saw it with my own eyes and so did many others that I told. The weather wasn't clear enough this evening. Also I am not sure how long it's up there but the lady that told me had seen it the night before. I shall look again same time tomorrow. Thanks for the site address i shall try it.

[funkymoped]

naked eye and a perfectly clear night !
couldnt be better.

what you will be looking for is a type of "moving star"..
i didnt check out times or how bright it will be, or how long the viewing will last but it is worth seeing...
hard to imagine there are people up there in space... moving at 17,500 m.p.h.

[miss skippy]

Hi Funkymoped, I have logged on to Nasa and signed in but cannot find the route they are or have taken. Any ideas?also what I saw last night was just like a very bright moving star and very quick too.

[funkymoped]

hi skippy.

sorry i cant give you links to these sites !!!
give this one a try.

http://spacefllight.nasa.gov/realdata/

everything you need to know is in there !
:-)

[Cetti]

This is the page you want, just select your town for the times this week: It was very bright yesterday and tonight. Huge, so no need for binoculars.

http://tinyurl.com/ysprps

Tomorrow it's just the one time, but it's a 3 minute duration, so let's hope for clear skies.

[funkymoped]

nice one Cetti.

for the records.. both the Shuttle AND space station will be visible at 6.23pm.
again, for those that dont know. stand with the sunset on your right shoulder. you will be looking roughly in the right direction !
:-)

[Cetti]

Was it low on the horizon tonight at the later time, funkymoped?

Had a great view at 6.17 as it was almost overhead.

[miss skippy]

Had to go to my bass guitar lesson. Thanks for the info while I as away.Happy shuttle watching guys.

[heathfield]

Excellent site for ISS tracking here.

[dundurn]

Heathfield's site is the best I know.
There was an occasion last year when the shuttle had been launched but hadn't yet caught up with the ISS when you could see them both; ISS in front by about two minutes. The shuttle was easily visible but very much fainter than the ISS. The station is the size of an American football field after all and sprouts numerous large solar cell arrays, so it's always going to be an easy spot.
What Miss Skippy saw travelling behind the station was Progress supply ship P27. It's loaded with rubbish from the station and is going to be deorbited tomorrow. Its replacement P28 was docked to the station just before the shuttle was launched and is still attached at the moment.