The International Space Station to become the second brightest object in the night sky with help fro

[bananas]

Source: Canadian Space Agency

Move over, Morning Star. Once Canadarm2 helps install the fourth and final set of solar array wings to the International Space Station later this month, the Station will surpass Venus as the brightest object in the night sky, second only to the Moon.

The Space Shuttle Discovery is set to deliver the power-generating solar panels and Starboard 6 (S6) truss segment to the ISS on the 125th mission in the Shuttle program, known as STS-119/15A (slated for launch on March 11, 2009 at 9:20 p.m. Eastern). This final piece of the Station's backbone will bring the ISS to its full length of 102 metres (roughly the size of a Canadian football field), and will increase the quantity of electricity available for science experiments by 50%. This additional power also means that the Station will be closer to being ready to house a crew of 6 astronauts instead of the current 3. Canadian Space Agency Astronaut Dr. Robert Thirsk will be a member of Expedition 20/21-the first 6-person Station crew set to launch in late May 2009.

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Read more: http://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/iss/news_sts-119-15a.asp

[jeff30997]

1. Cool! I always been fascinated by space and...

I can't wait to take a look at this in the sky.Thanks for the infos bananas.

[BumRushDaShow]

2. You can see it without the extra solar panel

NASA (and other websites) have tracking software that will generate a list of when the ISS is flying over your area and will let you know what times and from what direction it will be traveling.

NASA's tracking for Canada is here: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/cities/skywatch.cgi?country=Canada

You can select your province and then go from there... :)

I like checking myself every once in awhile. It's cool to see it as it appears almost like a very high-flying lighted plane but moving relatively quickly across the sky.

[bananas]

4. Heavens-above.com is great for watching satellites

http://www.heavens-above.com
And ClearDarkSky.com tells you nearby viewing conditions: http://www.cleardarksky.com/csk/

[truthisfreedom]

10. Fantastic! Thanks for posting those tools!

Excellent!

[regnaD kciN]

3. Still eight years behind...

...the orbiting Hilton visualized in 2001: A Space Odyssey. Of course, this one is also unlikely to have shuttle flights from PanAm and tense, if diplomatic, confrontations between scientists from the U.S.A. and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics...

[jeff30997]

5. And still no base on the moon...

or an expedition to Jupiter. :(

[regnaD kciN]

9. If Nixon hadn't killed off space exploration...

...in favor of the shuttle program, who knows where we'd be by now? :shrug:

[Uncle Joe]

6. This is cool.

Thanks for the thread and heads-up, bananas.:thumbsup:

[agentS]

7. I've seen it fly by in the daytime once

It's an awesome sight. It came out of the SE and flew over to the west. I managed to follow it with my telescope for a brief moment.

[B o d i]

8. Nasa has an online vote where we can name Node 3 after Stephen Colbert

Vote early and vote often http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/name_ISS/index.html

Isn't science fun?

[Alcibiades]

11. It contains the Urine Processor Assembly

Yuck.

[AyanEva]

12. YES!

This time I HAVE the launch time and I WILL NOT miss the stupid launch! I miss every. single. launch. because I forget. I'm putting this damn thing on my calender. I'm gonna catch it as it happens ONE WAY OR ANOTHER. ::is determined::

I think I've got NASA's channel on my cable or I can tune in online too. I'm gonna catch this damn launch. I SWEAR I WILL.


...now watch me forget on Wednesday and then I'll be sittin' there mad on Thursday. lol