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The
space shuttle Discovery and the ISS are going to fly in tandem
over parts of the United States on August 6th and 7th.
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August 4, 2005: If you live in south Florida, central
Texas or near the Mississippi River Delta, you're in for a
treat. This weekend the space shuttle Discovery and the International
Space Station (ISS) are going to orbit over your part of the
country. Shining like very bright stars, the two ships will
glide in tandem across the sky--a lovely sight.
 That's
the good news. The bad news is that you have to wake up before
dawn to see them, but they're worth waking up for.
Right:
Shuttle Discovery's ground track on August 6th when it orbits
over New Orleans. Image credit Chris Peat and Heavens Above.
[More]
The
flybys commence on Saturday morning, August 6th, at 05:50
a.m. CDT when the pair can be seen from New Orleans, Mobile,
Biloxi and surrounding areas. Discovery will have just undocked
from the ISS about three hours earlier. This
means the two ships will be separated, but still close together.
Side by side apparitions of two bright spaceships are rare
and beautiful.
"Based
on their predicted separation of 7 km, their angular separation
should be 1o--only twice the diameter of a full
moon," says independent satellite tracking expert Ted
Molczan.
Which
ship is which? The brighter light is the shuttle. Although
Discovery is smaller than the ISS, its super-white top reflects
more sunlight. Both
ships should be easy to see in the deep-blue dawn sky.
Bonus:
Discovery and the ISS, coincidentally, pass close to the planet
Mars. If you're an early riser, you've probably noticed Mars
shining high in the sky before sunrise. If you haven't noticed
Mars yet, you will on August 6th. Discovery and the ISS will
lead you right to the red planet: sky
map.
August
7th should be a good morning, too, with flybys over south
Florida, parts of Texas and Oklahoma. By then, says Molczan,
"the two ships will be more than 250 km apart; the ISS
would trail Discovery by 30 seconds or so -- still worth observing,
but not as spectacular as on August 6th." Miami and Dallas
are favored with particularly good apparitions: the two spaceships
will be bright and, once again, close to Mars when they pass
overhead.
Spotting
Times for Selected Cities
Is your hometown
not listed? Check one of these web sites for more flyby schedules:
Heavens Above, J-Pass
or SkyWatch.
Table
notes: "RISE" is the time when the shuttle first
appears as a dim point of light near the southwestern horizon;
"MAX" is when the shuttle is bright and nearly overhead;
"SET" is when the shuttle fades into the northeastern
horizon. All times are local, e.g., CDT for New Orleans and
EDT for Miami. Sky maps and ground tracks are courtesy of
Chris Peat and Heavens Above.
Finally,
on the morning of August 8th, the shuttle is due to land at
the Kennedy Space Center. Reentry won't be visible from much
of the United States. The shuttle's intended trajectory takes
it over the Yucatan Peninsula and the Gulf of Mexico.
To
the unaided eye, Discovery and the ISS are compact points
of light. You can't actually discern, e.g., the wings
of the shuttle or the station's vast solar arrays.
How
about looking through a telescope?
 It's
not easy, but it can be done. The two spaceships move slowly
across the sky, taking about five minutes to cross from horizon
to horizon. With a little practice, you can train a small
telescope on the pair and manually track them. Then you can
see their outlines. The space station's T-shaped solar arrays
are eye-catching; people who have seen them are impressed
by their eerie copper color.
Above:
A telescopic view of the International Space Station. Image
credit: Jim Young and Gary Grasdalen. [More]
If
you've never seen a shuttle flyby before, however, don't spend
precious minutes fumbling with a telescope. Look up and, using
nothing but your eyes, simply enjoy the view.
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Author: Dr. Tony
Phillips | Production Editor:
Dr. Tony Phillips | Credit: Science@NASA
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