ISS visible passes - ongoing thread

[Gary]

The next supply ship Progress M-07M(39P) is scheduled to launch tomorrow (12.11BST) due to dock on Friday. Hopefully might get a chance of seeing Progress near ISS, if the skies are clear etc

Off up to Leuchars tomorrow So thought i would post this while i remembered

[Gary]

ISS should be visible from next weekend, this time at sociable hours between 5 and 7pm

Also
Discovery STS-133 is due to launch a week tomorrow (01/11/2010) On her last flight though

[Gary]

Yep Discovery should be visible like the supply ship. Discovery is due to dock with ISS on 3rd Nov so we should see her trailing ISS the day before if the weather plays ball

[zero_gravity]

143.625 is the main Russian downlink for ISS [ FM ]

259.7 AM carries shuttle comms during the climb out , but you'll only hear short exchanges.
Once the payload doors open they go to Ku band



Few pics of mine from past missions here

http://satcom.website.orange.co.uk/

[Gary]

Also Discovery STS-133 is due to launch a week tomorrow (01/11/2010) On her last flight though

I believe the yanks have agreed to one more launch sometime next August, not sure which Shuttle though

Tony

The extra shuttle will be Atlantis barring any slips they are looking at a June 2011 launch. Atlantis is also the rescue shuttle for Endeavour (STS-134) as long as they don't have to launch a rescue mission for that. Atlantis should fly next year

[Gary]

Just a reminder ISS is now visible again Also Progress 37P supply ship is visible

And all being well Discovery should be visible to from Thursday

Sighting times can be found here http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/si ... ed+Kingdom" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Jonay]

Howling a gale out there, and its pishing with rain, I' aint going out!

Not that I'd see it anyway!

[gyvespa]

Excuse me for butting in but...........

I just read on a news site that the Shuttle Discovery is to launch tomorrow (weds) at 7:52pm UK time if anyone is interested.

I apologise if anyone has already posted this but haven't time to read all of the thread.
Got to go.

Happy Spotting.

[Gary]

Wednesday's launch of Discovery delayed by 24 hours possibly more. Due to backup Main Engine Controller problems. Weather is looking bad Thursday so Friday is most likely day for launch at the moment, if the problem is sorted...

The Launch window closes on the 7th November. Next chance for launch would be on or after 23rd November

[Gary]

First real clear skies over here since ISS became back viewable tonight. Had two fantastic passes from ISS & one from Progress 37P Long may the clear skies continue

[Gary]

Just a reminder if anyone is interested. It's the last chance to see the supply ship Progress 37P tonight. Progress is due to be deorbited and crashed into the South Pacific Ocean on Monday.

Should be visible around 17.14

[Gary]

ISS back viewable again from tonight, roughly 18.40l

Also there's a campaign to get people to wave at the ISS http://www.isswave.org/what-when-how-why/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

What, When, How, Why

What?

ISS Wave is a round-the-world wave by us humans on Earth towards our fellow humans on the International Space Station (ISS) as she passes overhead at 17,500mph. It is being coordinated through a grassroots Twitter campaign – follow @ISSwave.

When?

To make sure as many people around the world get a chance to join in, ISS Wave will be “live” between Friday 24th December and Friday 31st December.

How?

For instructions on how to participate, please see our Wave with us! page. As for how the project will unfold, for one week starting the 24th of December, people around the world – recruited through the influence of Twitter – will wave at the ISS. Whether they wave alone or in groups, they will share their waves on Twitter including in their tweets the hashtag #ISSwave, their zip/postal code or city, country code and, optionally, thoughts, photos and videos. The tweets will be registered on a live map on this website starting December 24th.

We are also working on getting some or all of the astronauts aboard the International Space Station to photograph and/or film themselves waving back at us either during or after Wave week. No promises yet but there are at least two astronauts — including Astronaut Ron Garan — who have voiced their support for ISSwave in emails and tweets.

Why?

Watching an ISS pass is a startlingly emotional experience. Seeing that star-bright outpost of humanity move gracefully and silently across the night sky — at a predictable time and from a predictable direction — evokes feelings of pride (“We made that!”), solidarity (“There are humans on that! Hellooo, humans!”) and wonder (“It’s just so beautiful/fast/bright!”).

During 2009/2010, Twitter acquaintances and regular ISS watchers Lucy Rogers (@DrLucyRogers), Richard Grant (@rpg7twit) and Karen James (@kejames) discovered that watching ISS passes is even more exciting when done together with other humans, whether they are standing right next to you or watching from afar. To know that you are not the only one looking up in awe at this spectacle of human ingenuity and cooperation speeding across the night sky creates a special connection between us.

ISS Wave will amplify this connection by involving not three or four people, but tens or maybe even hundreds of people around the world. We hope that many of those people will be first-time ISS watchers, and that this will mark an increase in awareness about not only the fun of watching ISS passes but also basics like: yes, there is an International Space Station; yes, there are people up there (Who’s on the station now?); yes, it orbits the Earth every 90 minutes; yes, they do ground-breaking science every day which affects our lives here on Earth.

ISS Wave also celebrates the 10th anniversary of continuous human presence in space (November 2nd, 2010) and the 50th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin’s flight into space – the first human spaceflight (April 12th, 2011).

We support human spaceflight in general and continued investment in human spaceflight programs around the world.

[zero_gravity]

Heads up tonight and the next three nights for the BBC live Stargazer programmes....unfotunately too late to show us a live passage of ISS as that happens earlier in the evening.However its pretty much academic anyway as most of the country is covered in cloud for the next few days.

The BBC programme will be live from Jodrell bank and also Hawaii where liz Bonin will be showing us the erm...daylight sky !

I checked out the live rehersals from satellite last night....I hope they have plenty of stuff on tape !

For a sneak preview have a look at
http://satcom.website.orange.co.uk/" o ... urn false;

Click the end tab "Clips"
The second video down .[You may need to stop the first one running ]

[Gary]

ISS is visible yet again http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/si ... ed+Kingdom" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Also visible for a couple of day's in the mornings is a HTV a Japanese unmanned resupply spacecraft

[davedubya]

Should also be able to the solar-sail satellite "NanoSail-D2" in the evenings now. Check Heavens-Above for where to look.

[warman]

radio comms here from the ISS this morning on 145.800 FM,a school contact.good listening,talking about distortion and they may have to use the ISS backup channels.
at approx 07.05 this morning.

[Gary]

ISS back visible again at reasonable times from tomorrow (Monday 18th).... And should remain so until Endeavours launch in 12 days time

[beefsteak]

Next Saturday (23rd St Georges day) at around 22.15 till 22.18 hrs anybody in the M4 corridor is in for a real treat !!!

[davedubya]

In Essex, we get a five minute and a three minute pass on that day.

[Gary]

Just had a stunning 5 min pass