British astronaut crosses Britain in minutes

[Parksy]

Did anybody notice the international space station carrying British astronaut Tim Peake travel steadily across the darkening sky from the West at 6:13 pm this evening? It was highly visible for about 4 minutes because there was not much cloud cover over the Midlands for a change. The ISS passed right over our house and I stood on the patio and waved, but Tim Peake never waved back :lol:

 

[Martin24]

How rude of him.

 

[Parksy]

He might have been busy if it was his turn to put the kettle on :cheer:

 

[Gabsgrandad]

Or on 'Woosie' duty, & just 'popped' outside to empty it?

 

[pensioner]

Missed it last night and all previous passes due to cloud cover, but I see there's another chance Saturday morning so hopefully the sky will be clear

 

[pmb]

He might have been busy if it was his turn to put the kettle on :cheer:

He was actually in contact with a school on the radio during that pass at the time you mention. I was listening to him on my amateur radio gear. The contact was live on the principia.ariss website.

 

[pmb]

Missed it last night and all previous passes due to cloud cover, but I see there's another chance Saturday morning so hopefully the sky will be clear

? Visible passes are in the evenings at the moment (assuming you are in the UK). Put your location into heavens-above.com.

 

[pensioner]

Thanks pmb, I have a link to the current position of the ISS but the weather is the problem,,,cloud, cloud and more cloud.,,I'll get it eventually I'm sure.

 

[Dustydog]

I'm a thick old dog
when and how where do I look to wave to Tim?

 

[pensioner]

Dustydog,,if you log into www.iss.astroviewer.net you will see where it is at anytime 24//7 and when it can be seen from the UK

 

[pensioner]

It is currently passing over Darwin Australia

 

[Parksy]

Click Here to enter your location which will give information on what time the ISS is visible and where to look.
The ISS is not visible during daylight hours because, like the moon, it reflects the sunlight, which is why it resembles a yellowish light in the dark sky when observed without binoculars or a telescope.
The space station will be visible early this evening at 6:56 pm here for approximately 2 minutes 35° above West and it disappears 45° above East South East. when viewed from the West Midlands where the cloud so far is broken. If you are in the west it may appear slightly earlier and in the east slightly later, but not much more than a minute or so either way because it's doing about 17,500 mph :lol:

 

[Dustydog]

Well that's amazing B)

Thanks Pensioner and Parksy.
How amazing some unknown person has sat down , worked out all the dates times and geometry etc and then posted the data on the net.

Shame my old dad was computer illiterate. He'd have loved it.

 

[Parksy]

I think that the data is provided by mission control telemetry Sir DD. The clouds have almost disappeared here so it looks as though tonight will be another good sighting.

 

[Hutch]

Watching it now
Hutch

 

[Hutch]

Well we saw it, here in Milton Keynes for about a minute and 15 seconds and then lost into cloud, probably Flatus Capus. Tomorrow we have a 4 minute window at 6pm.
FANTASIC, though.
Hutch.

 

[Parksy]

The clouds rolled in over the Black Country so I didn't see it this time

 

[pensioner]

Well it's taken long enough, but patience is it's own reward,,after weeks and weeks of cloud or rain or both, we finally got to see the I.S.S. this evening,,very bright and very fast,,even got a couple of photos, but as they are only with a basic digital camera there's no actual visible detail.
Worth waiting for though.

 

[Parksy]

I'm glad that you saw it, a dark cloudless evening sky does have some advantages even it you need your thermals on

 

[Raywood]

Traveling at that speed I think my daughter must be driving!

 

[Hutch]

Another good siteing tonight, lots of stars visable as well, lovely fairly clear sky, its going to be frosty tomorrow.

 

[pensioner]

Yes,,got it between the few clouds,,further away this time,,and the last for several days.