NASA Gives Details on Spotting the Space Station at National Parks

"The space station is an international treasure, the size of a
football field, and an inspiring sight in its own right flying
through the sky at five miles per second," said Mike Suffredini,
International Space Station program manager. "But I can't imagine a
better way to share the experience with family and friends than
during a trip to one of our national parks, where the stars seem to
shine brighter whether they're natural or man-made."

Sightings depend on lighting, weather conditions and the station's
location as it orbits 200 miles above Earth at 17,500 mph. With the
help of the Park Service, NASA recently imported the coordinates of
507 locations, including national parks and seashores, historic
sites, monuments, and wild and scenic rivers. The station's Mission
Control Center at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston uses these
locations and the orbital path of the space station to predict times
when people can see the station zoom across the sky.

National Park Service Director Jon Jarvis said, "The night sky is one
of many spectacular resources national park visitors enjoy.
Coordinating park locations with the space station flight schedule
gives visitors another opportunity to reflect on human connections
with the world and beyond."

Sighting predictions are available on NASA's SkyWatch website, via the
agency's new mobile website, and NASA iPhone and iPad applications.
Park rangers who present night sky programs and park event calendars
also will have the information available for park visitors.

"It's a good idea to check the sighting opportunities ahead of time,"
said Chad Moore, director of the National Park Service night sky
program. "Many remote national parks, which offer the best night sky
conditions, have limited Internet or cell phone coverage."

The announcement of the collaboration between NASA and the National
Park Service coincides with sighting opportunities on several parks'
anniversaries. On Friday, Oct. 1, the 120th anniversary of Yosemite
National Park, the station will pass overhead at 5:03 a.m. PST. On
Oct. 2, the station will pass over Sequoia National Park at 5:29 a.m.
PST and Kings Canyon National Park at 5:30 a.m. PST on the parks'
120th anniversaries. Oct. 2 is also the 42nd anniversary of Redwood
National Park, which the station will fly over at 5:29 a.m. PST.

The space station usually appears over the western horizon and
disappears over the eastern horizon in a matter of minutes. The best
time to observe the station is near dawn or dusk, when the viewer is
in near-darkness, and the passing station continues to reflect light
from the rising or setting sun.

For detailed sightings information and a guide to using the
information, visit:

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings

For more information about the International Space Station, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/station

For more information about national parks and the night sky, visit:

http://www.nature.nps.gov/air/lightscapes

For information about the National Park Service, visit:

http://www.nps.gov

Source: NASA

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