http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/cities/region.cgi?country=United_States®ion=North_Carolina

i saw both the shuttle and the iss go by last night around 9:41. it was awesome. click on your city in the link above to see the viewing opportunities for your area.

the shuttle is supposed to land today, the earliest at 2:18pm and the latest at 6:59pm. if it does not land, you can see it tonight around 10:02pm. regardless of the shuttle, you can still see the iss tonight and the next few nights.

it's pretty cool. no telescope needed. it looks like a very bright star moving fast across the sky. you'd have to be extremely quick to catch it in binoculars or anything like that.

6/22/2007 10:05:46 AM

cool. ever try http://www.heavens-above.com/ to track iridium flares?

6/22/2007 10:17:34 AM

what a waste of money that nasa shit is


we could use those dollars to crush iraqi civilian resistance

6/22/2007 10:28:59 AM

^ go back to chit chat

those iridium flares are pretty cool, although i haven't looked for one in a long time

6/22/2007 10:37:45 AM

Quote :

"what a waste of money that nasa shit is we could use those dollars to crush iraqi civilian resistance"

yes, b/c exploration is a total waste of time... NASA and the space program have brought you nothing.....

get off the computer right now

6/22/2007 10:40:02 AM

sarcasm detector [fail]

6/22/2007 10:50:04 AM

The computer would have come without NASA, don't be illogical.

6/22/2007 10:56:08 AM

welcome to the internet. some of you need to read this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarcasm

anyway, this is not a thread to argue over NASA or what it may or may not have helped create/invent/bring to the masses/whatever.

last night was the first time i have seen the shuttle in the sky (first time i had looked for it). it was really cool. i kinda hope they can't land today.

6/22/2007 11:20:09 AM

Wisconsin is partly cloudy with isolated Thunderstorms all day

6/22/2007 11:32:21 AM

how easy are the iridium flares to see with the naked eye? is it a matter of just knowing where/when to look?

6/22/2007 11:57:53 AM

fucking bullshit, thats what funding nasa is

6/22/2007 12:03:28 PM

hey d-bag, leave those comments for chit chat or the soap box

6/22/2007 12:23:39 PM

thanks for the info - i'll be watching tonight...

6/22/2007 12:32:41 PM

well, the shuttle landed in CA but you can still see the ISS tonight

6/22/2007 4:18:10 PM

I wish spaceships coming home was a big deal to everyone.

6/22/2007 4:26:52 PM

Quote :

"ISS -0.5 22:00:57 10° WNW 22:03:44 51° SW 22:04:27 38° S "

-0.5 Magnitude, that's ridiculously bright.

But yeah, manned spaceflight is a huge a waste of money. For the last couple decades, no real progress has been made. If a crew dies at this point, they died for nothing. It's like a janitor getting crushed cleaning out the trash compacter. It's not glorious, just part of a shitty job.

[Edited on June 22, 2007 at 4:31 PM. Reason : I thoroughly endorse cheap unmanned probes though.]

6/22/2007 4:30:21 PM

it's amazing to me. i just watched the landing replay on nasa tv (i was asleep earlier ) and i swear it looks like they're going to just plow straight into the ground. it makes me nervous just watching. i wish i lived near KSC.


alright apparently you fuckers can't read

Quote :

"anyway, this is not a thread to argue over NASA or what it may or may not have helped create/invent/bring to the masses/whatever."

if you want to argue over this, or contribute your opinions on whether nasa and what is does is a waste of money, i would be HAPPY to set you up a thread in the soap box. otherwise stfu plz.

[Edited on June 22, 2007 at 4:32 PM. Reason : ]

6/22/2007 4:30:46 PM

the landing is actually amazingly smooth. Last week i was riding in the motion simulator with the 120 crew, and when they touched down it barely shook at all. So i asked the commander if it is really that smooth of a landing in real life, and her, and the pilot told me that the simulator actually simulates a much rougher landing, and unless there is a major malfunction, then the landing is very smooth.

today i watched the landing from mission control, and i was monitoring the flight controlers as an OJT, I was listening to all the flight controler loops and watching the landing on NASA closed circuit TV too;and it was interesting as hell. My console was right beside the control/prop people and when they did the deorbit burn it was pretty sweet. And surprisingly they had no mal's throughout the entire entry

6/22/2007 7:12:55 PM

Smooth? The landing had to be delayed and relocated because of a storm. Because of a little rain. That's absolutely pathetic. One little gust of wind and they're fucked with no chance of circling around again. It's a terrible system.

6/22/2007 7:24:13 PM

well the shuttle does travel fast enough that those rain droplets would fuck it up

6/22/2007 7:34:27 PM

actually, they have a certain set of flight rules such as, weather conditions, visability, ceiling height, etc, etc. When you're coming in from as high as they are, and as fast as they are moving, they have to execute a series of S-turns to dissapate energy, they have speed brakes, and what not as well as a RLS that further limits manueverability. Given the shuttle is almost 30 years old, and my cell phone as about as much memory as the shuttle it does pretty well. Do you have a 30 year old car that is in as good of condition?

Also, by smooth i mean the acutal land, when they touch down, its more smooth than a comercial jet landing.

Also, they cant land in rain because the rain will mess up the thermal tiles

On one landing they went through an electrical storm and the shuttle was struck by lightning, and they still havent figured out what all it did to it

But, dont worry pretty soon, the new vehicle will be being used and you wont have to bitch about the shuttle any longer

[Edited on June 22, 2007 at 7:39 PM. Reason : ]

6/22/2007 7:37:22 PM

fuck even a new vehicle, cancel nasa

6/22/2007 7:53:17 PM

i would probably vote for you for president of the world

6/22/2007 8:00:59 PM

The space shuttle and the ISS are among the worst mistakes NASA has ever made. With that said, I am amazed that the shuttle has done so well over the years, but I'm very glad we're going toward the CEV.

6/22/2007 8:55:36 PM

how do you justify that?

6/22/2007 8:57:35 PM

space exploration is awesome. i just wish ppl cared more about it these days. they only care when ppl die.

6/22/2007 9:08:35 PM

The Space Shuttle is expensive to operate, upgrade, and provides no good crew escape system. Its a failing system, NASA invested way to much money in it for it to be so hard to upgrade. We got stuck with it because we couldn't justify a replacement program for it until recently.

6/22/2007 9:17:21 PM

Oh and by the way, the viewing tonight was pretty awesome. There was a big damn cloud in the way for the first minute but I caught the last half when it popped out on the other side. Good times.

And the validity of NASA and the ISS would make for great discussion in THE SOAP BOX. Stop being a troll or go back to chit chat.

6/22/2007 10:32:34 PM

Not being a troll fuckhead, I fully support manned space exploration. The STS program is outdated, I'm glad we're moving to the CEV Orion/Ares program...thats all.

6/22/2007 10:39:02 PM

i fucking forgot about this.

6/22/2007 10:43:07 PM

Quote :

"But, dont worry pretty soon, the new vehicle will be being used and you wont have to bitch about the shuttle any longer"

This is the project I'm actually working on. I started at NASA two weeks ago working on the navigation, guidance, and control systems. Current schedule is to replace the space shuttle in 2010. I feel so important telling people that I'm working on the Ares I rocket.

6/22/2007 11:01:50 PM

Do most people even know what the Ares rocket is

6/22/2007 11:02:48 PM

Haha no but it sounds impressive.

6/22/2007 11:03:11 PM

yeah thats true the shuttle is date, even with all the upgrades, but if you want to have more/ better equipment, then you have to pay for it, and that is something the government is not wanting to fully commit to

But the plan for the shuttle was to hual shit up into space, (Hubble, ISS, etc) and so far it has served its purpose. The next project, Constellation, will have to purpose of going to the moon, and further space exploration, so it will be a capsule, and as far as i know will not have the capabilities to dock with the ISS




[Edited on June 22, 2007 at 11:20 PM. Reason : vehicle-> project]

6/22/2007 11:04:49 PM

there no vehicle called Constellation, Constellation is the all encompassing term for the all post shuttle replacements. (Project Constellation) The manned vessel, Orion, will be able to dock with the ISS and the Ares V rocket will act as a heavy payload delivery system.

6/22/2007 11:16:25 PM

yeah i read that too, but in one of the ltest papers i got, it said they were going to be handing over most of the ISS responsibilities to the Russians. But I guess the person who told me the new vehicle would not be docking with the station was incorrect, my B

6/22/2007 11:22:19 PM

Oh, I have no idea if it will dock with the ISS, but it certainly has the capabilities to dock with it.

6/22/2007 11:24:07 PM