The ISS and Space Shuttle

Posted by
Kelly Whitt
Jun 16, 2007

The other night I went out to catch the International Space Station and space shuttle linked together as they zoomed overhead. I first tried just after 9:00 p.m. They were only a magnitude 2.2 and the sky was still bright in the northwest from sunset. They proved impossible to see in the still-darkening sky.

About an hour and a half later they passed over again. This time it was dark and they were a cinch to spot. They were also shining brighter at magnitude 1.6. The ISS is continuing to brighten every time the space shuttle visits it and brings more pieces to add to its bulk. The newest panels can be especially reflective if they are turned just right, although I did not witness any flashes or prominent glares during the few minutes I watched it pass along the northern horizon.

The ISS and space shuttle will remain docked together for a while yet. You can try to view the spacecraft by visiting the Heavens-Above website. Type in your location and it will tell you when certain objects will pass overhead. The space shuttle will be listed under ISS until they separate. Try to see if you can observe them after separation. Tracking them in a telescope will show the separate objects hovering together in the sky.

Heavens-Above can also show you other interesting sky objects, such as Iridium flares. Some Iridium flares are bright enough to be seen in daylight. This is a great opportunity to show them to children since it gets dark so late at this time of year, they don't always get to stay up to watch astronomical events.

Sep 8, 2009 6:40 PM

Guest :

I just think I saw the space shuttle and the ISS !!! I am a firefighter here in Milwaukee and looked up into the sky at 8:15PM or so and saw two bright lights in the sky, one following the other at the exact same rate and line of travel. At first I thought they were planes, but they were traveling as if they were joined together. Later someone told me that it could have been the shuttle and the ISS. It must have been, it was so cool, but a little strange also because I had never seen anything like that flying through the sky, moving so "automatically" together and constant. Cool.