Real Time Satellite and Space Shuttle Tracking by cogdogblog
posted 27 Jun ’08, 4.45pm MDT PST on flickr
Nifty site for getting info about satellites and tracking them in real time on a google map. This shows locations of GPS satellites and my home location.
Ahhh… that always fascinated me as a child. Still does. Just a couple of weeks ago, about 6.20 one morning, as the recent space shuttle returned to earth we had a great view here as the large white object that is the ISS and the space shuttle, close by, arced across the sky. The shuttle had just separated and began its orbit back down to earth. Interesting to see the two dots moving across the sky, together, so evenly. I am not sure if it is true but if the ISS gets any bigger we may be able to discern it more clearly with the naked eye.
One evening I grabbed a couple of beers, took our Japanese home-stay student Ryuiji out to the deck by the pool and said we are going to look for satellites. The best time is an hour or so after sunset. Ryuji did not believe me. Anyway, we drank our beers, stared at the sky for a while and then Ryuiji spotted the first satellite. He was quite excited as the twon where he lives in Japan suffers from light pollution.
Thanks for bringing back those memories Alan,
Cheers
John
Nice complement to the standard site, http://www.heavens-above.com/. I check it regularly and it’s a family tradition for us to sit out in the back yard when ISS flies over. There’s an interesting hobby/obsession wrapped around this that I wish I had time for (and your clear Arizona skies.) See http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/05/science/space/05spotters.html and http://www.wired.com/culture/art/news/2008/06/secret_satellites.