At the end of this month NASA will be ready to ferry the European research module “Columbus” to the ISS onboard of space shuttle Atlantis from the US launch pad in Florida. During the intensive preparation for this historical event an ESA astronaut had tested the latest generation of FORTIS space chronographs onboard the ISS, after the watches had positively passed the strict NASA tests prior to the last mission without any difficulties.

Now the International Space Station attracts all our attention, as it is clearly visible at the sky during as the next days. If you would like to observe the flight path of the ISS in the clear sky the early morning hours offer the best opportunity at the moment. You will receive the precise flight path data for your location on the Internet page following this link www.heavens-above.com

It is an English-speaking web site hosted by the DLR/GSOC (German Aerospace Centre and German Space Operations Center) and it provides interesting data. If you do not want to log yourselves in as a user, you can get access as an “Anonymous user“. The best way is to choose the data from the huge data base. Select your country first and then fill in your hometown as search string.

In chapter Satellites select first: ISS. Interesting information about its brightness (Mag: the smaller the number the brighter the object) and the flight directions, time and date, duration of sighting and its elevation above the horizon round out the site. Take this excellent opportunity during the following days and hopefully have a good view!

Source: FORTIS-WATCH
www.fortis-watch.com
Contact:[email protected]

(Please credit europastar.com)