Twinkle, Twinkle Little...What Is That Thing?

I went out to look for noctilucent clouds tonight. Guess what we saw instead? Yep - the International Space Station. We had no idea that it was going to fly right over us and just happened to turn around and look once more toward the sunset. I spied a 'star' and told Mel, "No, I definitely don't see anything like what they've described the clouds to look like, but there is a star showing now. Er, no, it's a plane." About then Mel said, "It can't be a plane. There are no lights blinking." I thought and might have said out loud, "That's too big for a plane." And I know I definitely said out loud, "That's got to be the International Space Station!"

We have never seen it before, so it was a special treat for me. I'm so glad we went out. It's supposed to be out there tomorrow night, too. If the weather is nice I'll try again - for both the ISS and the noctilucent clouds.

Way cool!

***** Odessa *****

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THE FOLLOWING ISS SIGHTINGS ARE POSSIBLE FROM SAT
JUL 18 TO SUN AUG 02
SATELLITE LOCAL DURATION MAX ELEV APPROACH DEPARTURE
DATE/TIME (MIN) (DEG) (DEG-DIR) (DEG-DIR)

ISS Sat Jul 18/10:16 PM 3 44 33 above NNW 15 above E
ISS Sat Jul 18/11:49 PM 1 18 10 above WNW 18 above W
ISS Sun Jul 19/10:40 PM 3 86 20 above WNW 44 above ESE
ISS Mon Jul 20/09:31 PM 4 45 34 above NNW 10 above E
ISS Mon Jul 20/11:04 PM 2 28 10 above WNW 28 above WSW
ISS Tue Jul 21/09:55 PM 3 82 31 above WNW 21 above ESE
ISS Wed Jul 22/10:18 PM 3 30 10 above W 26 above S
ISS Thu Jul 23/09:10 PM 4 78 41 above WNW 11 above ESE

I remember the first time we saw the Space Shuttle. We were on our way up to my parents place and were listening to the radio. When we heard the announcer say that the shuttle would be flying over Colorado Springs in just a few minutes, we pulled over to the side of the road and stopped. It was a great place to stop - on the top of a big hill (Motel X hill for anyone who knows Ute Pass in days gone by). Several other cars stopped, too. We got out and stood in the ditch, away from the rest of the traffic going by and stared up into the darkening sky. The kids were fairly little - I don't know if they remember this or not. The shuttle flew right over us, way up there in space.

I was amazed. Here we were, down here on earth - there they were, up there in space.

I'm old enough to remember the Space Race. I remember clearly that first step on the surface of the moon - we watched it on television as a family. So - celebrating the anniversary of that first moon walk this week - and seeing the ISS for the first time. It couldn't have happened at a better time.

Maybe I'll see the clouds tomorrow night when I go out and look for the ISS again! Hey! That's a possibility!!