Times/directions for Friday night's passes of the ISS and Space Shuttle

I can see lots more people coming into this forum over the course of tonight and tomorrow looking for the times and directions for Friday night, so here they are. By the way, it looks like the Space Shuttle and the ISS will be combined by 8:30 PM tomorrow night, so they'll both pass as one object.


International Space Station (ISS) and Space Shuttle (SS) combined:

• Rises at 22:53 directly west; sets at 22:59 in the east; they'll reach a max. height of 49 degrees (5 stacked fists held at arms length).
• Rises at 00:29 WSW; sets at 00:31 in the east; they'll reach a max. height of 16 degrees (~1.5 stacked fists held at arms length). This second pass will be very hard to see.

For the many people coming into the thread to see the times/directions, you'll want to watch the first pass as the next pass will be extremely difficult to see and not spectacular at all.

Hope this helps.

Stargate

JammyDodger-

Thats excellent

Perfect , really handy and so neatly laid out , well done !

Im off to the cot , up at 7am , phew

Catch ya Tomorrow k

Tnx and goodnite

Stargate

Ostrom

Any predictions for shuttle trailing distances about? I dont see any mention of an expected timeframe on any of the nasa sites

refusetolose

will we be able to see the shuttle when its returning to earth?

efla

efla wrote: »

Any predictions for shuttle trailing distances about? I dont see any mention of an expected timeframe on any of the nasa sites

I honestly don't know. The stats above, which are taken from Heavens Above, say that there's still an ~18 minute gap between the two. Surely that can't be right?

refusetolose

refusetolose wrote: »

will we be able to see the shuttle when its returning to earth?

Yah, it'll be visible for a few nights once it leaves the ISS.

refusetolose

-JammyDodger- wrote: »

Yah, it'll be visible for a few nights once it leaves the ISS.

will it be going in the opposite direction?

Ostrom

-JammyDodger- wrote: »

I honestly don't know. The stats above, which are taken from Heavens Above, say that there's still an ~18 minute gap between the two. Surely that can't be right?

I'm wondering if the earlier heat shield inspection may have affected predictions, I think it may have run beyond the expected time.

17:55 GMT is still the expected time of dock, so I would imagine any predictions are likely to be off at this point. Either way it will be docked before it becomes visible at the 22:53 pass

refusetolose

refusetolose wrote: »

will it be going in the opposite direction?

That's a good question, and I honestly don't know the answer!

efla wrote: »

I'm wondering if the earlier heat shield inspection may have affected predictions, I think it may have run beyond the expected time.

17:55 GMT is still the expected time of dock, so I would imagine any predictions are likely to be off at this point

That's true. I'd imagine that the above may be wrong alright...

I'll leave them up, if Heavens Above changes its predictions tomorrow I'll change these. I'll put a warning in the post to say to check back tomorrow actually.

jumpguy

The heat shield inspections are routine since the Columbia accident and haven't affected a shuttle schedule yet. Unless they throw up some problem, I don't there'll be delays. Also, if there is a problem with the heat shield, it will have to connect with the ISS regardless (ISS acts like a safety "lifeboat"). It'd also be easier to carry out an EVA on the underside of shuttle from the ISS, or so I'd imagine anyway!

decies

Nasa site has 10-53pm for iss and shuttle.

Ostrom

-JammyDodger- wrote: »

That's a good question, and I honestly don't know the answer!



That's true. I'd imagine that the above may be wrong alright...

I'll leave them up, if Heavens Above changes its predictions tomorrow I'll change these. I'll put a warning in the post to say to check back tomorrow actually.

Were the earlier predictions accurate? I couldn't see with the clouds

decies

decies wrote: »

Nasa site has 10-53pm for iss and shuttle.

They'll be docked at that stage, so. I'll fix the top post in a sec.

efla wrote: »

Were the earlier predictions accurate? I couldn't see with the clouds

Yah, the earlier predictions were absolutely perfect. I suspect that there's something wrong with the above, though. They should be docked at that stage I'd imagine.

jumpguy

I know I asked this before...but will the shuttle not make the ISS brighter? Considering it has a fairly high mag itself, I'm finding it hard to believe it won't even increase it's mag to -4 in the best of conditions (as opposed to the -3.5). Anyone know for sure or will I have to wait and see?

squonk

I read somewhere else that the mag increase is in the order of -0.1. To be honest the ISS is already quite bright with the solar panels. Looking at previous missions, I never saw a noticeable increase in ISS brightness when the Shuttle docked. Havign said that, there is some light pollution in my area which does have an impact on my views anyway.

Beeker

refusetolose wrote: »

will it be going in the opposite direction?

No it always goes in the same direction west to east. It would take an enormous amount of energy to reverse direction. Dont forget it is travelling at 17500mph. After it undocks both will be visible again for a few days before the shuttle comes home. You will not see the return as it burns its "retro rockets" known as the Orbital Maneuvering system {OMS system} around the Indian ocean. The shuttle turns its rockets {rearend} into the direction of flight and fires them for about 5 min, this knocks off about 300 mph which is just enough to dip its orbit to reenter the atmosphere. It lands 1 hour later in Florida.

Beeker

jumpguy wrote: »

I know I asked this before...but will the shuttle not make the ISS brighter? Considering it has a fairly high mag itself, I'm finding it hard to believe it won't even increase it's mag to -4 in the best of conditions (as opposed to the -3.5). Anyone know for sure or will I have to wait and see?

I have seen many passes of the ISS and the shuttle both together and on their own. I have to say when they are docked there is no noticable difference. I think it is because the ISS is so bright anyway that a docked shuttle has no effect to the naked eye.

Beeker

-JammyDodger- wrote: »

I honestly don't know. The stats above, which are taken from Heavens Above, say that there's still an ~18 minute gap between the two. Surely that can't be right?

I think they give the seperate times in case the docking does not go ahead. That is the time the shuttle would pass if not docked.

Beeker

Beeker wrote: »

I think they give the seperate times in case the docking does not go ahead. That is the time the shuttle would pass if not docked.

Ah right, that makes sense.

Calibos

Eamonn posted another Vid of The Shuttle and Fuel tanks flyover Ireland on Wednesday night. It was taken from a different angle to all of our vids

Heres the link to the thread over on the IFAS forums.

http://www.irishastronomy.org/cms/forum?func=view&catid=11&id=79223&limit=15&start=105#79575

jumpguy

Calibos wrote: »

Eamonn posted another Vid of The Shuttle and Fuel tanks flyover Ireland on Wednesday night. It was taken from a different angle to all of our vids

Heres the link to the thread over on the IFAS forums.

http://www.irishastronomy.org/cms/forum?func=view&catid=11&id=79223&limit=15&start=105#79575

Isn't that just the exact same vid we all saw on NASA TV?

Nice in HD though...

Ricky91t

Just noticed the shuttle is now up to 340km and the ISS on 346km altitude,Moved up alot since this morning

Calibos

jumpguy wrote: »

Isn't that just the exact same vid we all saw on NASA TV?

Nice in HD though...

Were they showing that on Nasa TV on Wednesday night? My Bad I was busy trying to catch up to the last page of the big thread which was hard when for every page one read another 4 or 5 had appeared in that time. I had NASATV minimised and was just listening to the audio while reading the thread. Didn't realise they were showing that footage.

Stargate

Ricky91t wrote: »

Just noticed the shuttle is now up to 340km and the ISS on 346km altitude,Moved up alot since this morning

Hiya Ricky91t

you ready for tonight lol

Beer Barrel at the ready i hope haha

Regards
Stargate

Ricky91t

Stargate wrote: »

Hiya Ricky91t

you ready for tonight lol

Beer Barrel at the ready i hope haha

Regards
Stargate

Of course i am lol,Just watching it on Nasa tv!

How's cork looking?

Wondering why they move over to sequential images instead of live video?

Is it incase there's a problem the public won't see it?

Stargate

Ricky91t wrote: »

Of course i am lol,Just watching it on Nasa tv!

How's cork looking?

Beautiful here ALL day Ricky , now its getting dark the cloud is thick enough , patches here and there ,


i use this weathercam in limerick to see what its like to the west

http://www.quinweather.com/wxwebcam.php


This one might be nearer you Ricky

http://www.aquaventures.ie/baltimoreweatherlive.html

What part Kerry you in Ricky?

Stargate

Ricky91t

Between Listowel and abbeyfeale,a place Called Duagh

Totally overcast here though

Cheers for the cam links

Stargate

Ricky91t wrote: »

Between Listowel and abbeyfeale,a place Called Duagh

Totally overcast here though

Cheers for the cam links

Whats the exact times for tonights passes?
do you know?
im not long in ..phew

Cheers
Stargate

decies

Keep it in kerry,still sunny here a few clouds in the sky

Ricky91t

Stargate wrote: »

Whats the exact times for tonights passes?
do you know?
im not long in ..phew

Cheers
Stargate

Sorry I don't know,I cannot understand the heaven-above site,I just track it on here http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/tracking/

decies

Stargate wrote: »

Whats the exact times for tonights passes?
do you know?
im not long in ..phew

Cheers
Stargate

10-53pm

jumpguy

Visibility is poor here atm, although it appears to be clearing up and sat images suggest there should be some visibility soon.

The shuttle has successfully connected to the ISS, so we're just watching the one folks. However, when you look at the ISS, there's now a record 13 astronauts on board.

Ricky91t

The ISS and docked shuttle is/has passed over Ireland

Hah!I'll be super lucky tonight if i see it,check out the mass of cloud coming in at 22:15
http://www.meteox.com/h.aspx?r=&jaar=-3&soort=satradar

It looks like it'll be clear for people in the East and Midlands tonight. It was clear here all day, but now it's starting to cloud up, and when I look at BBC Weather it shows a big dirty cloud right over Lough Derg; it's a cloud that won't clear before midnight either.

jumpguy

No, it hasn't made a visible pass yet anyway. The ISS and docked shuttle with pass at 10:53PM heading West to ESE

Ricky91t

jumpguy wrote: »

No, it hasn't made a visible pass yet anyway. The ISS and docked shuttle with pass at 10:53PM heading West to ESE

Aye,Didn't say it was visible either or I would of told everyone to get outside,Was just mentioning it for the record

Dusty87

Guys why is the radio saying 10.32, also there sayin you wil see the ISS and the shuttle following. How hard to do research?:)

jumpguy

Ohhh I'm sorry, I thought you meant it had made the final pass of the night.

Dusty87

Dusty87 wrote: »

Guys why is the radio saying 10.32, also there sayin you wil see the ISS and the shuttle following. How hard to do research?:)

The ISS and Shuttle are docked since just after 8:30 PM our time, so they will both pass as one "point". I'm not sure about the radio's prediction, but I'm pretty sure the above predictions are the correct ones. If you'd like to research yourself, use Heavens-Above.com and this NASA tracking site.

Ricky91t

-JammyDodger- wrote: »

The ISS and Shuttle are docked since just after 8:30 PM our time, so they will both pass as one "point". I'm not sure about the radio's prediction, but I'm pretty sure the above predictions are the correct ones. If you'd like to research yourself, use Heavens-Above.com and this NASA tracking site.

The above predictions are 100% right,The ISS passed over here at ~9:17 adding 97 mins to that(ISS Orbit time) gives us ~10:54 so and as I wasn't keeping an eye on the time i'm sure it already passed when I checked.

I'll be outside at 10-53

Muppet Man

Nice blue skys and sunset here in Clonee tonight... looking forward to a nice pass... Might even try and take a picture with my 50 Euro digital camera.

decies

Am on eircom broadband nasa site working for me,but heavens above now wont load for me,could ye check if it loads for ye thanks.

decies

decies wrote: »

Am on eircom broadband nasa site working for me,but heavens above now wont load for me,could ye check if it loads for ye thanks.

Nope, the site must be too busy.

The above posted times are correct, though. Look west at 22:53.

jumpguy

decies wrote: »

Am on eircom broadband nasa site working for me,but heavens above now wont load for me,could ye check if it loads for ye thanks.

Eircom's DNS servers have been very unreliable the past few weeks, due to as Eircom say "an overload of traffic" but there are many a suspicion it's an attack. Looks like it's happening again tonight. Head over to this thread in the tech forum and find out how to switch to OpenDNS. Any questions just PM me.

EDIT: Never mind that! Looks like heavens-above isn't working for me either. Strange as I've never seen it go down before.

Ricky91t

decies wrote: »

Am on eircom broadband nasa site working for me,but heavens above now wont load for me,could ye check if it loads for ye thanks.

I'm on permanet(Goes through a uk level3 connection so nothing to do with eircom) and heavens-above is down for me too.

maggie797

cloudy here in limerick border of tipp:( hope it clears a bit.. I only saw a tiny bit last night as the cloud cover was awful!!

Dusty87

-JammyDodger- wrote: »

The ISS and Shuttle are docked since just after 8:30 PM our time, so they will both pass as one "point". I'm not sure about the radio's prediction, but I'm pretty sure the above predictions are the correct ones. If you'd like to research yourself, use Heavens-Above.com and this NASA tracking site.

That sounded like i was being smart. I meant how hard for radio to do research! Sorry if it sounded different. Thanks for all help past few days. I have them all ready for it tonight at home:):)

Dusty87

Dusty87 wrote: »

That sounded like i was being smart. I meant how hard for radio to do research! Sorry if it sounded different. Thanks for all help past few days. I have them all ready for it tonight at home:):)

Didn't sound like you were being smart at all.:)

You can never trust radio stations (or any media for that matter)!

Ricky91t

Heavens-above is working took about 10 mins to load the home page though

Also,Cloud cover here in Kerry is bad,Slight patches but not the best

CR 7

anyone know what the direction/path is relative to wednesday night's path. Don't have any compass to check, and tis a bit cloudy so i don't wanna miss it. Just an approximate rel. angle, etc. would be perfect.

jumpguy

the_pm_of_17 wrote: »

anyone know what the direction/path is relative to wednesday night's path. Don't have any compass to check, and tis a bit cloudy so i don't wanna miss it. Just an approximate rel. angle, etc. would be perfect.

It's of a similiar pass as Wednesday. Heading West to ESE. West is where the sun sets, and for ESE just look East, where the sun rises, and turn your head south (right of east) a few degrees. Mentally draw a line from that point to West (or vice versa).
That's how I do it anyway! Simplest is keep scanning Westerly and then you can just track it.