REAL TIME SATELLITE TRACKING

[ChrisGreaves]

screenshot of satellite view

I've just been watching again in real time, with my zoom in set to I-don't-know-what, but it's moving at about 5 miles/second, and the centered screen shifts about 3 centimeters each second.

The ISS/STS have traveled across the NW corner of Africa, skipped across the Mediterranean, skimmed over Italy, and are done with Romani.
I had not realized what the orbital speed means in terms of the earth.
Rationally, I know it is 90 minutes per orbit, and I can do the mathematics and come up with 5 miles/second, but to think of what it must be like to watch out of the window and see Italy scoot past in between sips of coffee ....

[ChrisGreaves]

... an icon of the space-station Zarya

The two vehicles appear to have separated as shown in this screenshot (attached - NOT! In the time it took me to type, the camera was filled with astronauts who blocked my view. SIT DOWN IN FRONT!)).
Spaceflight now is providing me with a blog of events, and a real-time live feed from the shuttle(?) window as it flies over the earth.
This is too freaky - watching these guys scoot across Google Maps at 5 miles/second AND watching the clouds scurry by under the window!

[ChrisGreaves]

Better image

[ChrisGreaves]

REAL TIME SATELLITE TRACKING...

Undockingis Tonight 6:54 pm CST (7:54pm New York time?).
At some time after that it should be possible to watch the two modules drift apart.

[ChrisGreaves]

REAL TIME SATELLITE TRACKING has been ...

... cheating on me.
Late last night I sat down to watch the plot of Google Maps as the shuttle did the de-orbit burn, shimmy-shammied left and right, and did a fern-curl approach to #15 outside of Titusville.
To my amazement-turning-to-disgust, the Google Maps plot sent STS-130 over the middle of Cuba, rather than off the western tip, and while I was watching the video feed of STS-130 rolling to a stop on the tarmac, the Google Maps plot showed STS-130 winging its way over Thelwell Country ( 51° 1'15.70"N, 1°30'27.61"W) a.k.a. "Just outside Romsey, UK" at an altitude of several hundred kilometres.

[ChrisGreaves]

REAL TIME SATELLITE TRACKING
A Russian spacecraft blasted off and "The launch of the Soyuz TMA-18 comes three days before the launch of NASA's space shuttle Discovery, which is also bound for the space station.".
It sounds to me as if we will be able to track both ships docking to the space station.

[Graeme]

Great site Chris and great tutorial too. Thanks

I've got the draw footprint box ticked which shows a circle round the satellite. Is that the area from which it can be seen on earth?

And no flashy ads for me!

[ChrisGreaves]

Is that the area from which it can be seen on earth?

I think so.
I use it, weakly, as a predictor for where a satellite might cross a coastline.

[ChrisGreaves]

... great tutorial too.

Here's a shot (Mon Apr 5th 11:00 Toronto time) of the shuttle catching up to the space station.
That's me peeking out of the windows(TM) of the red-tiled roof house.

2.JPG