Station crew, left to right, Catherine Coleman, Alexander Kaleri, Dmitry Kondratyev (front), Scott Kelly (back), Oleg Skripochka and Paulo Nespoli. Photo Credit/NASA TV
Wave to the U. S., European and Russian astronauts living and working aboard the International Space Station this week through a global campaign organized by www.isswave.org.
The web site offers five different ways to find out when and where to look in the evening and early morning for the space station as it crosses the darkened skies. Through the use of social media, ISS Wave is also collecting locations and comments from ground observers.
“The first time I watched an ISS pass I was surprised by how much it affected me,” said Karen James, a regular space station observer and one of those who organized the sighting campaign. “‘We made that’, I thought, ‘there are humans up there!’ All of my worries just seemed so tiny in the face of this symbol of human achievement and cooperation. I want to share that experience with other humans and also show my support to the ones living and working aboard the station.”
Astronauts from the United States, Canada, Europe, Russia and Japan have been living and working aboard space station for more than 10 years.
NASA’s site lists sighting opportunities by country and city. Others use zip codes and postal codes.
ISS Wave will feature a global map to illustrate the many locations where observers gather to watch for the space station.
The campaign falls over Christmas and New Year’s.
However, there is much more to the effort than the observance of a holiday.
The coming week coincides with the station’s passage over many major population areas of the world. Where skies are clear, the station will appear as a bright star moving across the night sky.
Major U. S. Gulf Coast cities as viewed from the space station. Photo Credit/NASA
The bright appearance comes from sunlight reflecting of the station’s outstretched solar arrays, another factor in the timing for the sighting campaign. The angle of sun light falling on the orbital path of the station varies throughout the year.
The space station circles the Earth at an altitude of 220 miles. Photo Credit/NASA
NASA’s Scott Kelly is the station’s current commander. His crew includes NASA’s Catherine Coleman; Russian cosmonauts Dmitry Kondratyev, Alexander Kaleri and Oleg Skripochka. The European Space Agency is represented by Paolo Nespoli of Italy.
A NASA website offers much more about activities aboard the space station.