Clear skies likely for tonight's space station flyby
Space Cadets! Step outside Thursday evening and catch a glimpse of billions of the world's tax dollars as they fly over Baltimore aboard the International Space Station.
The ISS will make an especially bright and high pass over Central Maryland shortly after 9 p.m.
The forecast calls for clear skies, so the station will be easily visible from just about anywhere in the region with a broad view of the sky, even in downtown Baltimore. Be sure to take the kids, and grab the attention of any joggers or dog-walkers that happen by. Point out the station to them and they'll think you're a genius. Or a total geek.
Give yourself a few extra minutes on either end of this flyby. On Wednesday just after noon EDT, the Russians launched an unmanned Progress supply ship (photo, right) which is scheduled to dock with the ISS on Saturday with tons of food, water, oxygen and other cargo. There's a chance we'll be able to spot Progress flying a few minutes ahead of, or behind the ISS during this pass. Being smaller than the ISS, Progress will reflect less sunlight and appear dimmer in the night sky. It may be harder to spot amid urban lighting.
Look for the ISS to rise above the southwest horizon beginning at 9:12 p.m. EDT. It will look like a steady, bright star, climbing into the sky at a brisk pace. If you see something that blinks, or sports multiple or colored lights, it's an airplane. Keep looking.
The station will pass very close to Pollux, the southernmost of the twin stars of Gemini. Just south of Pollux and the ISS you can find reddish Mars. Venus will be shining very low in the west.
At 9:15 p.m. the ISS will reach its highest elevation of this pass, about two-thirds of the way from the northwest horizon to the zenith (straight up). At that moment, it will be 238 miles from observers in Baltimore.
There are currently six astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the outpost - five men and one woman. Three are Russians, two are Americans, and one is Japanese.
From there, watch as the station passes by the lip of the Big Dipper, and sails off toward the northeast, disappearing into the Earth's shadow at 9:19 p.m.
The ISS is nearly complete. It now has a mass of more than 800,000 pounds. It has been occupied continuously since November 2000. It circles the globe 16 times a day at 17,500 mph, eventually passing over 90 percent of the Earth's surface. To explore the station through an interactive NASA "photosynth" display, click here.
Good luck. And, as always, drop back here after the flyby, leave a comment, and let other readers know where you were, what you saw and how everybody reacted.
Comments
Thank you...we'll be watching.
Posted by: NotableM | April 29, 2010 11:57 AM
Awesome! Can't wait. I love this kind of stuff.
FR: Good. There will be a very similar flyover Saturday evening. Stay tuned.
Posted by: Susan Williamson | April 29, 2010 12:36 PM
I remember when Skylab passed over Baltimore back in the late 70's. It stuck with me. I'll be watching tonight.
Posted by: Sean Tully | April 29, 2010 1:02 PM
im really excited i hope i get to see it :)
Posted by: Michelle | April 29, 2010 8:53 PM
I just saw it. It was going fast and was awesome. I wasnt sure at first because I live very close to the airport but it was solid white and going really fast. Faster then the airplanes. It was awesome!
Posted by: Brandon | April 29, 2010 9:18 PM
Omg! My family and our neighbors saw it!!! It looked like a bright star in the sky passing by. Its very cool to know that there are people way up there!
Posted by: emily | April 29, 2010 9:19 PM
wow! you couldn't have possibly missed that! i'm blown away at how bright it was!
Posted by: jeff | April 29, 2010 9:21 PM
Great pass by the ISS tonight in Catonsville. No luck in spotting the progress. I have been lucky enough to see the station and the shuttle shortly after separation with binoculars. Also once saw them both with a few hundred miles of separation, all very exciting.
FR: I never saw Progress, either. But it's not very big, and perhaps not very reflective. Maybe next time. Glad everybody had a good time out there. Beautiful night.
Posted by: Mike | April 29, 2010 9:22 PM
Yup, there it was. I watched it go in a straight line along the same line as my street. I'm in the city (Violetville) and I could see it brighter than the planes that were in the sky at the same time. Good tip. Thanks.
(I missed the other one that you mentioned.)
Posted by: Sean Tully | April 29, 2010 9:24 PM
Saw it here in Frederick, it was very bright near it's peak, much brighter than the last time I saw it.
Posted by: Mike | April 29, 2010 9:26 PM
Thanks for the heads up - just back inside from viewing the flyby from Westminster - a little cloudy but still a great show! Looking forward to more this summer.
Posted by: R. Scott | April 29, 2010 9:27 PM
Great view from my back deck. Right over my house.
Posted by: Karl Vogler | April 29, 2010 9:28 PM
We both as well just saw it. Its something amazing that you will remember for the rest of your life. Definitely excited to have been able to experience seeing such an amazing sight!
Posted by: Elizabeth & Alex | April 29, 2010 9:29 PM
Saw it here in DC.......Rhode Island & 7th St NW. Same description as other comments, in that it was bright & moving upwardly fast. Praise to the astronauts for being up there. Great experience.
Posted by: Mark Shear | April 29, 2010 9:34 PM
Thanks to your announcements, this is maybe my 20th ISS flyover-watch!
Posted by: April | April 29, 2010 9:42 PM
Thanks for letting us know about this - very cool. It's amazing to think about the folks flying in the space station.
Posted by: Stanley Nachimson | April 29, 2010 9:50 PM
We saw it from Yorktown, VA. Pretty cool sight to see!
Posted by: Donn | April 29, 2010 10:02 PM
I cant believe I just saw the space station and i saw it beautifully along with the big dipper it was amazingly awesome and it was right on top of my house my father took me outside he said it would pass at 9 12 to 9 19 he also told me there were billions of dollars up there and that there is 6 astronauts up there. We saw it from Towson MD
Posted by: Juanita | April 29, 2010 10:10 PM
This is the fourth time to see the iss and by far the brightest and plainest yet. I am in awe of it each and every time. I live in arkansas.
Posted by: karen | April 29, 2010 10:13 PM
Wow! We watched it from our back Yard in Hillsdale Mi. How amazing!
Posted by: Jackie Lane | April 29, 2010 10:14 PM
I had left my friends' house in West York in Pa when my husband called at approximately 8:54pm EST. to tell me about it. My son and I were driving down interstate 83 south and i was looking for a place to pull over that didn't have too many lights. We saw the space station moving pretty quick across the sky. We pulled over between exit 14 and 15, I stopped the car, we got out and looked up and were both in awe as we watched it travel. I'm so happy I was able to experience this and share it with my son and my husband at home 15 miles away. Priceless experience.
Posted by: J. Anna Shaw | April 29, 2010 10:39 PM
I once called my brother in Vermont so he could watch it as it flew over. It was awesome to be watching the same thing as he was.
Posted by: Mr. Plow | April 29, 2010 11:22 PM
Upperco, MD had a great viewing!!
Posted by: NotableM | April 30, 2010 6:46 AM
We saw the ISS & the unmanned russian vessel as well. It was awesome!!
FR: Well done. That's the first report of a Progress sighting I've seen here. Can you tell us where you were, how far ahead (or behind) the ISS Propgress was?
Posted by: pam wilson | April 30, 2010 8:09 AM
Hi Frank,
THANKS! Stepped out on the deck with hubby & son @ 9:10 and and watched until it disappeared. Our first viewing. I was surprised @ the speed it travels. Keep us posted for the next visit. We are on Middle River and most always have great sky watching.
Posted by: Mary Mac | April 30, 2010 10:18 AM
We stepped outside last night around 9:13 and watched it fly by. It was an awesome sight. Something I will never forget. We were in Rising Sun, MD.
Posted by: Jackie Meadows | April 30, 2010 10:28 AM
Thanks for the heads up, Frank - I took my daughter out and we watched it together. It was amazing and as bright as I've ever seen it, rising near Sirius and climing to pass almost directly overhead. Being that she is only five years old, I had to contain my tendency to totally geek out, describing it simply as a big building floating around the Earth. "People live up there," I told her. She seemed sufficiently awed. She was very excited about the whole thing and swore up and down she could see the "wings" (by which I assume she was referring to the solar panels). So she either has a great imagination or amazing eyesight :)
As a side note, we may have caught sight of the Progress spacecraft as well, about five minutes before the ISS flyby. It was further to the south and peaked only about 20 degrees above the southern horizon.
So, thanks - this was an experience that was a wonderful thing to share and I would have missed it if not for your column!
FR: You're welcome. I remember waking my kids in the middle of the night to watch a lunar eclipse from the back door and, on another occasion, pointing out Jupiter to them. They still talk about it. Geeks for life.
Posted by: Todd Peterson | April 30, 2010 10:59 AM
I was in Central NY and didn't even know it was going by until I looked up. I had seen it before, and there is no mistaking it once you have seen it. Beautiful sight....
Posted by: Gary Morris | April 30, 2010 5:28 PM
We are here in Glendale California. It passed overhead at approx 8:08pm PST. We knocked on neighbors doors to share the experience. Awesome!!
Posted by: sharon nasella | April 30, 2010 11:30 PM
This is primarily a U.S. funded International Space Station, and a fully U.S. built one, and should more rightly be called a "U.S. Space Station". Even more disturbing, after spending approximately a trillion U.S. tax dollars on this new International Space Station, what is occurring at the same time? The last space shuttle flight which is how the U.S. has been getting to and from the current International Space Station. For no valid reason at all, the space shuttle program was cut and now the only way that the U.S. can get to the International Space Station that it built for a trillion dollars is to piggyback transport via either the European Space Agency, Russia or Japan
Posted by: Elaine Cullen | May 1, 2010 11:24 AM