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Mary M.
  • Mary M.
  • Fort Lauderdale, FL
  • United States

TEDCRED 100+

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Have you seen the ISS?

Did you know that the international space station is visible at night from various points on earth?

You can check out where it is at any time of day by going to this link

http://iss.astroviewer.net

Have you personally seen it? It looks like a bright white light travelling across the sky, it is really neat to think that there are humans up there orbiting the earth and looking down on us.

What are your thoughts on the space station?

Can anyone explain in layman's terms how it stays in a particular orbit?

This is also a video on TED you might enjoy:

video-cady-coleman-talks-to-ted2011-from-the-international-space-station

Related Talks:
Topics: NASA Wonder astronomy how universe works
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Closing Statement from Mary M.

Krisztian and Ed........thank you so much for his interchange of ideas and information.

Keep looking up!!!

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    Krisztián Pintér 200+

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    TED Translator
    Feb 22 2013: sure, i have seen it many times. okay, not that many, but at least 3.

    • Mary M. 100+

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      Feb 22 2013: cool!! did the travel time across the sky vary each time?

      How did you know to look for it?
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        Krisztián Pintér 200+

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        Feb 22 2013: it moves at a constant speed, so the time is dependent on the path it travels. the best you can get is like half the sky, so it rises, slowly goes to the top, and then suddenly disappears. disappears, as it enters the earth's shadow.

        first time we were just sitting on a balcony, and saw something moving. later i used the heavens-above website to know beforehand when to look. it also tells you where to find, and how bright it will be.
        http://www.heavens-above.com/
        important! you have to set your location with the Configuration / Current observing site.

        • Mary M. 100+

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          Feb 22 2013: yep....we have seen it where it goes over close to the horizon and lasts only a minute. And we have seen it where it cuts our night sky in half and lasts close to 3 minutes going across.

          There's a site we use that tells us the exact time it will be passing over us, and from which direction it is coming, and how long the path will take.

          My son is so fascinated by it, especially since we visited the Kennedy space center last year.

          It would be really cool to go up on the shuttle and stay at the station a few days.

          I wonder how big they can get it to become.
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        Krisztián Pintér 200+

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        TED Translator
        Feb 22 2013: if he is so into it, and you won't mind a little trip, i highly recommend catching an iridium flare. iridium flares are ISS sightings on steriods, for hikers.
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        Krisztián Pintér 200+

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        Feb 22 2013: heavens-above is better. it gives you a sky-map too. so you can locate the constellations it will cross beforehand.

        • Mary M. 100+

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          Feb 23 2013: I noticed that it has much more information on it......it's a great site.

          I'm going to share it with a friend of ours who is an amateur astronomer.

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