More objects in the sky for evening cyclists tonight: ISS and resupply craft

[PotomacCyclist]

The International Space Station should be visible tonight over the DC region, depending on cloud cover. According to NASA’s Spot the Station website, the ISS should be visible over the DC area from 7:03 to 7:09 pm. Sunset is at 6:12 pm and the forecast is for partly cloudy skies. At max height, it will appear 83* above the horizon. It will appear to travel from 10* above NW to 12* above SE.

The European resupply vehicle, Albert Einstein ATV4, should also be visible, just a few minutes before the ISS comes into view. It will appear along the same path, NW to SE.

http://spotthestation.nasa.gov/sightings/view.cfm?country=United_States&region=DC&city=National_Mall#.Um6DtvkqiSo

Unlike in the movie “Gravity”, the two objects are not expected to smash into each other.

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[jrenaut]

@PotomacCyclist 67709 wrote:

Unlike in the movie “Gravity”, the two objects are not expected to smash into each other.

That’s what the dude in “Gravity” said.

I mean, probably. I haven’t seen the movie. I’ve heard it was bad.

[rpiretti]

Cool, thanks for the post!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[PotomacCyclist]

@jrenaut 67710 wrote:

That’s what the dude in “Gravity” said.

I mean, probably. I haven’t seen the movie. I’ve heard it was bad.

I liked it, although I’d say that it’s more of an “experience” than a traditional movie. It’s one of those rare movies that really does need to be seen on a large-scale IMAX screen. (The mini-IMAX or LIE-MAX screens just aren’t the same thing.) Unfortunately, the Smithsonian IMAX theaters haven’t scheduled it… yet. (Keeping my fingers crossed for a December run at the Air and Space Museum, which would be awesome!) Without posting any major spoilers, the movie is successful at creating a very claustrophobic atmosphere throughout the movie. The story is not complex at all, although there are debates about how deep the symbolism is. I see what some people are referring to, but I think it works mostly as a visceral experience, almost as if you were out there in space yourself.

It’s short for a big-budget feature movie though, around 90 minutes. But I think that was enough to cover the simple plot. Any longer and the director would have been simply stretching things out needlessly.

I’ll rate it 4.5 out of 5.

[PotomacCyclist]

FYI – Buzz Aldrin spoke at the Air and Space Museum on Saturday. Pretty cool, even though I’ve seen him at the museum and the National Book Festival before.

It’s kind of funny though. When I was looking at the Columbia command module (used on the historic Apollo 11 mission) in the main entrance of the museum later on, people were talking about the ship calmly. They had no idea that Buzz Aldrin had just spoken in the gallery down the hall, and was probably at the bookstore at that moment signing copies of his new book (about the need for a manned mission to Mars).

Then when I walked outside of the museum a couple hours later, I was standing right next to Buzz as he got into an SUV. People were walking along the sidewalk completely unaware that Buzz Aldrin was standing just a few feet away. Wake up, people!

[peterw_diy]

Thanks for the head’s up on this.

[PotomacCyclist]

The ISS was fairly bright. I managed to see it throughout the window of visibility overhead. In case anyone missed it, it was about as bright as the brightest stars. But unlike stars, it did not flicker. It followed the pre-announced path fairly closely, from NW to SE.

I couldn’t see the Albert Einstein ATV4 though. That’s probably too small to be seen, unless it’s late at night and/or one is looking from a very dark area, not in a lit area like most of DC or Arlington.

[PotomacCyclist]

I just read that Gravity will NOT be showing at the Smithsonian IMAX theaters.

[aflapr]

Thanks for posting this! We took our 4 year old daughter out to see this and we were able to make out both the ATV4 and the ISS. This made my day, thanks again!

[Rootchopper]

It was Aldrin who figured out the basics of space walking. Prior to him, space walkers would get exhausted from doing minimal tasks. He introduced foot holds and such.

Oh, yeah. he was also Ginger Rogers to Armstrong’s Fred Astaire.

[cyclingfool]

I managed to miss it. I love looking for stuff like this, but was heading out to dinner with the fam, and missed the time window. I like the website you linked to, though. I’ll need to keep tabs on it for other good viewing opportunities. Looks like pre-dawn AM hours on Sun, Nov 10 is the next best viewing opportunity. Might have to wake up early to go watch it.

[PotomacCyclist]

@Rootchopper 67766 wrote:

It was Aldrin who figured out the basics of space walking. Prior to him, space walkers would get exhausted from doing minimal tasks. He introduced foot holds and such.

Oh, yeah. he was also Ginger Rogers to Armstrong’s Fred Astaire.

He spoke about the slingshot technique of boosting spacecraft by using the gravity of the Earth or the Moon, which he helped develop. But he didn’t talk about spacewalks too much this time. He is very focused on getting NASA and the international community to fully fund an eventual manned mission to Mars, which is the subject of his recent book. It was only at the earlier book signing this year that I learned that he earned a doctorate from MIT. I also found out that he did a rap video with Snoop Dogg. Totally not making this up. Last weekend, he finished off the talk with the behind-the-scenes video from that studio session.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcUeGRpPzgw

***
There was another talk earlier this year at the museum with John Glenn and Gen. Thomas Stafford, where they spoke more extensively about the history of spacewalks and the difficulties encountered in the early missions. (Stafford was commander of Apollo 10, the 2nd mission to orbit the Moon and the 1st to fly a lunar module there. He came as close to landing on the Moon as you can without going the final distance. That mission also set the record for fastest human travel, at just under 25,000 mph. He was also commander of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. Among his many official roles, he served as chairman of the NASA advisory committee that drew up a long-term plan for U.S. manned spaceflight, back in the 1990s.) He mentioned that when the Russians first stepped out of a spacecraft for the first time, the spacesuit ballooned up because of the pressurization. The cosmonaut was almost unable to get back into the ship. The same thing happened on the first U.S. spacewalks. Makes you realize just how dangerous it is to be a pioneer, truly going where no one had gone before.

[PotomacCyclist]

“I have only two passions. Space exploration. And hip-hop.”

[PotomacCyclist]

@aflapr 67753 wrote:

Thanks for posting this! We took our 4 year old daughter out to see this and we were able to make out both the ATV4 and the ISS. This made my day, thanks again!

Glad to hear she enjoyed the show!

[kcb203]

@PotomacCyclist 67799 wrote:

Glad to hear she enjoyed the show!

I didn’t see the resupply rocket, but we did see the space station. I never realized how visible it could be high in the sky right after sunset.

A big regret is that I never went to see a shuttle launch. My dad was an aerospace engineer. We did see the Shuttle test landings off the back of the 747 when I was 3 years old. My dad also worked on Apollo (lunar lander descent engine) and the Pioneer program (making sure the antenna always pointed back at earth). All more interesting than anything I’ve done in my not-so-ELITE career.

[PotomacCyclist]

Did you see the Discovery flyover last year here in DC/Northern Virginia? I never saw a shuttle launch but at least I saw the final flight of Discovery, before it went on display at the Dulles Air and Space Museum. That was pretty cool to see.

[video=vimeo;40543196]https://vimeo.com/40543196[/video]

Do you know about the rocket launches at the Wallops Flight Facility in eastern Virginia? Orbital is one of the private NASA contractors that will be operating resupply missions to the ISS in the future. They had a successful test launch recently. That rocket was visible from the DC area. As they work out the remaining bugs in the program, there should be more frequent launches from the Wallops Flight Facility.

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/wallops/home/index.html#.UnABaPkqiSo

It’s not that far of a drive from the DC area if you’re interested in getting a closer look at future launches. They have a visitors center, which is free to the public. I don’t know what it’s like, since I’ve never been there. But here’s the website:

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/wallops/visitorcenter/index.html#.UnAB1fkqiSo

The next launch from Wallops is scheduled for Nov. 19, depending on weather conditions that day.

***
And to tie this back into cycling, The WashCycle is run by a NASA employee at Goddard Space Flight Center, though the blog/website is a personal project only.

[Author]

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