STS-120: Discovery Sightings

[generic_handle_42]

About 6:15 eastern this morning I found myself standing outside in the 1 degree celsius temperature to watch a brilliant dawn flyby of the two vehicles.  

The pass began with the sighting of the ISS in the SW at a 10 degree altitude.  It was about magnitude -1.9.  It was followed about 3 seconds later by a fainter Discovery at magnitude -0.9.  The pass reached an altitude of about 60 degrees, and then faded into the ENE after a lengthy five-minute pass.  It was a lucky pass, since the clouds managed to stay out of the area where the vehicles were traveling.

Even though it was probably fruitless, I gave a quick wave and wishes for a safe return to Discovery as she flew by.

[Clydes07]

Wow, i got to see a double sighting for the first time!  Right on time at 6:13ET(southeastern Indiana) i saw the ISS coming out of the southwest and then just a few seconds behind it was the shuttle.  They went right over my house and i had a good five minutes of viewing time.  I've never gotten to see the shuttle by itself, and the novelty of seeing the station still hasn't worn off yet, i saw it for the first time last year.  It is usually too cloudy here during the double sighting opportunities.  I thought the shuttle would be dimmer than it was, tried looking through my binoculars but they're too wimpy to make out anything.  This was cool!

[CTdave]

generic_handle_42 - 6/11/2007  5:34 AM
 I gave a quick wave and wishes for a safe return to Discovery as she flew by.

  Excellent!


Unfortunately the cold front brought rain earlier today. I did get to see they yesterday just as they were undocking. Very cool to say the least!

[Lee Jay]

Great pass over Colorado this morning.  They went straight overhead.  Instead of getting out the big lens, I went for a fisheye this time.

[Jeff Lerner]

I also saw this morning's pass over Toronto...nice clear morning with a very bright Station leading the Shuttle. Just out of curiosity, as impressive as the Station is in terms of brightness, it remains a very "star-like" object to my aging eyes. How big would Station have to be to resolve details with the naked eye ..I'm thinking  x times current size ??...Star Wars "Death-Star" size

[Lee Jay]

Wildthing - 6/11/2007  6:35 AM

I also saw this morning's pass over Toronto...nice clear morning with a very bright Station leading the Shuttle. Just out of curiosity, as impressive as the Station is in terms of brightness, it remains a very "star-like" object to my aging eyes. How big would Station have to be to resolve details with the naked eye ..I'm thinking  x times current size ??...Star Wars "Death-Star" size

"x" would be triple digits.  It's a couple of hundred miles away.  I used 18x50 Canon IS binoculars this morning, and couldn't see any detail.

[jacqmans]

See the ISS and Discovery in the morning sky over Europe

6 November 2007

Early tomorrow morning there is a rare opportunity to see the Space Station flying in formation with Space Shuttle Discovery, homeward bound and due to land in Florida tomorrow evening.
 
Between 06;30 and 06:37 CET the ISS, followed at a distance by Discovery, will fly along a line stretching from Cadiz (Spain), over Barcelona, Marseilles (France), Turin and Milan in northern Italy, towards Austria.
Residents of Paolo Nespoli's home town of Verano Brianzo, near Milan, should have a clear view as they wake up. For early risers in Sicily, southern Italy, and Greece, the Station and Shuttle will be visible one orbit or 90 minutes earlier, between 04:59 and 05:03 CET (05:59 and 06:03 Eastern European Time for Greece).  
 
For precise times over your home town, consult 'Heavens Above'.

Discovery and the STS-120 crew undocked from the Space Station at 11:32 CET, 5 November, and are scheduled to touchdown in Florida at 19:02 CET (18:02 UT) on Wednesday 7 November.
 
Calling amateur photographers
 
If you manage to catch a great photo why not send it to us? ESA will publish the best photographs on the Esperia website. Send your photographs in high-res jpeg format to: contactesa @ esa.int

[jeklund]

Clydes07 - 6/11/2007  6:03 AM

Wow, i got to see a double sighting for the first time!  Right on time at 6:13ET(southeastern Indiana) i saw the ISS coming out of the southwest and then just a few seconds behind it was the shuttle.  They went right over my house and i had a good five minutes of viewing time.  I've never gotten to see the shuttle by itself, and the novelty of seeing the station still hasn't worn off yet, i saw it for the first time last year.  It is usually too cloudy here during the double sighting opportunities.  I thought the shuttle would be dimmer than it was, tried looking through my binoculars but they're too wimpy to make out anything.  This was cool!

I saw them at the same time here in Kansas City.  Sure makes it feel like a small world.  

[collectSPACE]

The following was provided in hard copy to media at JSC:

Description of ground tracks for entry Wednesday

Orbit 328

• Crossing over North America from the North West to South Eart
  
• Start over west coast of British Columbia near Vancouver
  
• Cross over
  • Montana
    
  • Northeast corner of Wyoming
    
  • Southwest corner of South Dakota (Rapid City)
    
  • Central Nebraska
    
  • Northeast Kansas (Topeka)
    
  • Southwest corner of Missouri
    
  • Northeast Arkansas
    
  • Tennessee (Memphis)
    
  • Northeast corner of Mississippi
    
  • Alabama (Birmingham)
    
  • Georgia (Columbus)
• Across northern border of Florida toward east coast (between Orlando and Daytona Beach) and KSC.

Orbit 239

• Crossing over North America from the North West to South East.
  • Shallower track over Southwestern United States than first opportunity
• Start over the west coast of Oregon near Portland.
  
• Cross over
  • Southwest corner of Idaho
    
  • Utah (Salt Lake City)
    
  • Colorado
    
  • Northeast corner of New Mexico
    
  • Panhandle of Texas (Amarillo, Wichita Falls, Dallas-Forth Worth)
    
  • Lousiana
• Skirts along the coast and over the Gulf before crossing over the west coast of Florida near Cedar Key and Waccasassa Bay, heading east just north of Orlando to KSC.

[lbvp]

Great view this morning in Northern Ohio. Wasn't sure if the cloud cover was going to clear out but enough moved out that we a great view over head.

I live in Tuscaloosa, Alabama and about 1 hour away from Birmingham.  Will I be able to hear the sonic booms or see Discovery on landing tomorrow?  On orbit 328?  How loud are the sonic booms?

[bkellysky]

This morning before sunrise, just north of New York City, I saw the Discovery and the ISS overflights.  Also, Mercury, the crescent moon, Venus, Saturn, Mars, Comet Holmes and lots of stars were out.  A great morning for observing with just the human eye, taking in the scene.  Using my Canon A40 on a tripod, I got photos of Discovery and the ISS passing over at 4:55EST and 5:05 EST, respectively.  It was cloudy here yesterday, so I missed the chance for a photo of the two of them together. The photo of Discovery's trail in the sky turned out to be special since I'm in the photo, too.  (Really, I was trying to block out a street light!)

I hope for good weather for those of you lucky enough to be under the landing track today!  Bring them home, Discovery !

bob kelly
ardsley, new york

[ChrisC]

orion61 - 5/11/2007  4:07 PM

Not sure if anyone's posted this, but if you go to the Skywatch java applet at the following link, it will give more precise information on where to look in the sky if a sighting is possible and/or if you might be able to hear the sonic booms.  The booms are generally not audible if the pass is below 20 degrees elevation, according to Nasa, but a sighting may still be possible.

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/SSapplications/Post/JavaSSOP/JavaSSOP.html

To use it, go to the "Input" tab, and key in your location (either select from the pull down menus and map or give latitude/longitude).  Select the landing opportunity (KSC238 for the first or KSC239 for the second in this case) under the "satellite" pull-down.
Then click the "Next Sighting" button, and go to the "Table" tab to see the information, including elevation, range and azimuth.

Good luck and hope this helps!

I'm quoting this post from a few days ago because I don't want anyone to miss it.  This is a fantastic little Java app that calculates visibility along the landing ground tracks.  It's too hard to find just by navigating NASA's site.  Follow the instructions above.

The only thing I have not been able to find is an altitude profile of the landing.  All I've found is 400000 feet at EI and 83000 feet at TAEM, which leaves about half an hour of mystery in between

Also does anybody know how high up you can still hear the boom on the ground?  I think someone posted here about hearing it in Chicago a few years ago.

How about CROSSRANGE audibility?  I'm 100 miles away from the ground track when it's about 30 miles / 150000 feet up.

[Raoul]

Which one is behind the other? Some say Discovery is chasing ISS (therefore behind) and the first object is more brilliant, others say it's the opposite?

http://www.spaceweather.com/

[Bubbinski]

I just went out there and saw the shuttle pass overhead at 5:57....nice to see.  It was about as bright as Saturn at its best, and passed almost overhead (73 deg).  After Discovery passed, I looked at Pleiades, Orion, Comet Holmes to the west....then 10 min after Discovery came ISS!!  WOW.  That's the brightest I've ever seen her.  At its peak ISS was about as bright as Venus, for most of the pass it wasn't quite as bright, but definitely much brighter than Sirius and Mars almost all the way through.  I could just about make out the H shape if I squinted in the binoculars too.  (10x50's)

Can't wait till STS-119....how bright will ISS be then?

[paulrix]

It's been a while since I posted here but I thought you guys would like to see a couple of images I took yesterday morning (Nov 6th 0616 EST) as the ISS, with Discovery trailing a little way behind passed high overhead my location in Zanesville Ohio...

ISS - (could anyone point me in the right direction to try and identify the individual components of the structure?)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v236/PaulRix/Astronomy/isssts120a110607Ad.jpg

From the same pass I also managed to get an image of Discovery..
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v236/PaulRix/Astronomy/sts120a110607B.jpg

Image scale set to 200%:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v236/PaulRix/Astronomy/sts120a110607C.jpg
I took them with my Meade LX200 SCT and a Philips SPC900NC webcam.  I aimed the scope manually using a Telrad finder.

Edit: Not sure what I am doing wrong but I don't seem to be having any luck posting the images so I will just leave the links..

[Zoomer30]

Dumb question, will the Discovery be visible from Iowa?  It comes rather close (I was surprised to see how much of the Midwest it goes over this time).  On the first pass it comes down over Nebraska and than Missouri.  Guess if I could see it it would be very low on the horizon (I am in North Iowa)

[nichojo]

Couldn't see her in Auburn - just too bright. We did hear some beautiful twin booms though! WELCOME BACK!

[ChrisC]

I'm in downtown Atlanta.  The ground track went through Columbus GA, getting within 100 miles of us at its closest.   It was thus very unlikely that we'd be able to see it, but it was going to peak at 16 degrees above horizon and we have spectacular clear skies today (cold front just went through) so I decided to give it a shot.   A work colleague and I went to the roof of our 15 story office building and scanned the skies with binoculars at the right time and in the right direction.  Sadly, not a thing to see.  At 16 degrees above horizon, our shot was well out of the worst of the ground haze but ... still ... that's a hundred miles of atmosphere we were trying to look through!  Plus it was backlit.  Oh well!