QUOTE
Warm and clear summer nights will have a little something extra for space junkies this week.
The International Space Station - ISS - will soar over New Zealand at times which mean it will be in sunlight while the country is in twilight or darkness.
It will mean the ISS is, to the naked eye, at its maximum brightness.
Tonight it will race up from the south west at around 10.12 pm and sweep across the sky remaining visible for three minutes.
According to the tracking site heavens-above.com it will be around 340 kilometres above Earth.
Tonight it will not actually cross New Zealand - just missing a track over North Cape.
But tomorrow night, at 8.59pm, it will brush the South Island's Cape Farewell and pass over the North Island coast from around Hawera in Taranaki to Whakatane in the Bay of Plenty. It will be visible for just under four minutes.
Last weekend Russian Mission Control lifted the ISS's orbit by 5.25 kilometres in preparation for visits to it next month by US and Russian spacecraft.[/quote]
For those who are interested, this was a report from Monday. It should be visable tonight at 9.20pm travelling from South to North across the North Western part of the country- let us know if you spot it!
The International Space Station - ISS - will soar over New Zealand at times which mean it will be in sunlight while the country is in twilight or darkness.
It will mean the ISS is, to the naked eye, at its maximum brightness.
Tonight it will race up from the south west at around 10.12 pm and sweep across the sky remaining visible for three minutes.
According to the tracking site heavens-above.com it will be around 340 kilometres above Earth.
Tonight it will not actually cross New Zealand - just missing a track over North Cape.
But tomorrow night, at 8.59pm, it will brush the South Island's Cape Farewell and pass over the North Island coast from around Hawera in Taranaki to Whakatane in the Bay of Plenty. It will be visible for just under four minutes.
Last weekend Russian Mission Control lifted the ISS's orbit by 5.25 kilometres in preparation for visits to it next month by US and Russian spacecraft.[/quote]
For those who are interested, this was a report from Monday. It should be visable tonight at 9.20pm travelling from South to North across the North Western part of the country- let us know if you spot it!
Last edited by ardypilot on Wed Jan 16, 2008 1:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.
thanks for the heads up , should be good if the clouds move a bit
