Right on schedule at a few minutes before 5am Monday morning, 30 May Shuttle Endeavour and ISS rose above the western horizon at my place in southern Indiana. A bit blurry eyed from lack of sleep, I was at the ready. The digital camera was snug atop a tripod and aimed in approximately the right direction. I’d been watching NASA-TV. Endeavour had undocked some five hours earlier and had just completed the STORRM docking exercise. Ten minutes before the Station and Shuttle were to pass overhead I heard STS-134 Commander Mark Kelly call ISS and say “we’re at 950 feet, that’s as close as we’re going to get”. Eight minutes before the pair of space travellers were to appear to my west Endeavour fired a separation burn. I thought to myself “they’re going to be really close together” and wondered whether I’d be able to visually separate the two spacecraft.

 Image left: Shuttle Endeavour is the lower, dimmer streak in this 20 second exposure. The Shuttle was likely about 10,000 feet from Station when this image was taken. Click to enlarge image (c) 2011 Mark Steven Williams

Endeavour and the Station were due to appear at 0946 UT (4:46 am EDT) at my location. I was watching the western horizon, just a few degrees below Arcturus. Ursa Major was sprawled on it’s back, bowl pointing northward and the arc of the “handle” pointing down toward the west and Arcturus. Suddenly Endeavour and ISS popped into view about 15 degrees above and left of where I was focusing my attention, racing across the sky in tandem about 20 arcminutes apart! Endeavour was slightly below and ahead of the Station. What an amazing sight, seeing Endeavour flying in formation with ISS on what will likely be it’s last full day in orbit.

 Observers in the midwest will be treated to a fine morning siting of the International Space Station and Shuttle Endeavour flying “in formation” Monday morning, May 30th. STS-134 is scheduled to undock from ISS on Sunday night. I can’t tell you the exact time of the undock, although I thoroughly scanned the NASA website. It’s a holiday weekend, what can I say. You reading this NASA PAOs?

This will be a rare (and last) opportunity to watch Shuttle Endeavour orbiting in formation with ISS. Alert observers in Louisville, KY will want to be up and watching the skies at 4:45am Monday morning. ISS will climb out of the west at 4:46 am, peak off the northwest horizon about two minutes later and exit to the northeast at 4:50am. I’m not clear at this point which vehicle will be leading the parade. ISS will be the brighter of the two.

I did a cursory check of siting opportunities in other cities. This pass will be visible for viewers in the midwest and east. Other cities in North America will have sighting opportunities on Tuesday morning. Endeavour is tentatively scheduled to de-orbit on Wednesday, June 1 weather permitting. Click the Heavens-Above link on the right side of this page for sighting opportunities anywhere in the world.

This will be your last chance to see Endeavour in orbit. Don’t miss it.

If you’d like to watch the International Space Station fly over your back yard this week you’ll want to be outside before dawn. ISS visible passes go through cycles due to Earth’s rotation below the station’s orbit. This week the visible passes are in the morning for North America. Remember we’re able to see ISS reflecting sunlight when it passes over our location just prior to sunrise or following sunset.

This week we have an even more intriguing chance to watch ISS followed by a Russian Soyuz spacecraft on Thursday and Friday mornings 16 and 17 December. The ISS Expedition 26/27 Crew will be launched to ISS aboard Soyuz 25 on Wednesday, 15 December at 19:09 UT (2:09 pm EST). The Soyuz will dock with ISS Friday afternoon. It takes about 46 hours from launch to docking for Space Shuttles, Soyuz, Progress and other spacecraft. By now I hope you have figured out where I’m going with this.

If there is a visible ISS pass at your location on Thursday or early Friday I suggest you watch for the Soyuz following ISS. I expect Soyuz 25 will be trailing ISS by at least 20 minutes on Thursday morning. On Friday it should be following ISS by a minute or two, since it will be about 7 hours from rendezvous and docking for observers in the Americas. Click the Heavens-Above link on the right side of the page to check pass times for ISS and dozens of other spacecraft for any location in the world. I have had the good fortune of seeing ISS flying in “formation” with Space Shuttles and a Russian Progress cargo spacecraft. Progress and Soyuz are very similar in size. Once Soyuz TMA 20 has launched I expect orbital tracking data will be available on the websites linked below.

Image above: The Soyuz TMA-20 spacecraft is rolled out by train on its way to the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Monday, Dec. 13, 2010, in Kazakhstan. The launch of the Soyuz spacecraft with Expedition 26 Soyuz Commander Dmitry Kondratyev, NASA Flight Engineer Catherine Coleman and Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli is scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 16. Image Credit: NASA/Carla Cioffi

For observers in Kentucky and Southern Indiana visible ISS passes will occur as follows:

Tuesday 6:50-6:54am WSW>SE peaking 45 degrees;

Wednesday 5:43-5:44am E>SE peaking 25 degrees;

Thursday 6:08-6:10am S>SSE peaking 30 degrees

You can also “observe” Soyuz/ISS passes via radio. During orbital operations while Soyuz is enroute to ISS monitor the following frequencies:
121.750 Mhz (Soyuz/ISS ranging/docking and FM voice)*, 130.167 ISS (ranging/docking), 143.625 ISS, 166.000 Soyuz/ISS, 259.700 STS ISS Crew/payload transport AM voice

Useful links:

Zariya Russian Spaceflight

NASA Soyuz timeline

The International Space Station/Soyuz TMA-19 crew safely landed in Kazakhstan on November 26th (the evening of the 25th in the Americas). ISS Expedition 25 Commander Doug “Wheels” Wheelock, Flight Engineers Shannon Walker and Fyodor Yurchikhin touched down right on schedule in the chilly plains of Asia. Yurchikhin was Soyuz commander during the “uphill” ride to orbit, de-orbit and return to earth. Yurchikhin hit the targetted landing spot so perfectly that crews aboard Russian Energia recovery helicopters watched the Soyuz descent module touchdown. NASA and Russian PAO cameras caught the landing on video. Recovery crews were on the ground and at the capsule less than five minutes after touchdown. Click the image for the complete story.

Image above left: Soyuz TMA-19 crewmembers — NASA astronaut Doug Wheelock, (second left in blue), Expedition 25 commander, along with Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin, Soyuz commander, and NASA astronaut Shannon Walker, flight engineer — are seen after being removed from the Soyuz TMA-19 capsule near the town of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan Nov. 25, 2010 (USA time or Nov. 26 in local Kazakhstan time). The three are returning from over five months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 24 and 25 crews. Photo credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

Flight engineer Shannon Walker mentioned that she’d heard the Soyuz descent described as “a series of explosions followed by a car crash”. At touchdown the Soyuz is moving at about 10 meters per second or 22 miles per hour, rather like a fender bender. The Soyuz spacecraft consists of 3 sections, a propulsion/control module, the crew descent module and the orbital module. Following separation from ISS the Soyuz pulls away from the station. Once the spacecraft has separated from ISS the propulsion module fires a 4 minute de-orbit burn and the Soyuz is separated into 3 sections by explosive bolts. The ”orbital” and “propulsion” modules burn up on re-entry only the “descent” module returns intact. Learn more here. 

Image left: Inside the descent module of the Soyuz TMA-19, three Expedition 25 crew members rehearse for their scheduled return to Earth aboard the Soyuz. From the left are NASA astronaut Doug Wheelock, commander; Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin and NASA astronaut Shannon Walker, both flight engineers.

For astronauts, cosmonauts and passengers who fly aboard the Soyuz the ride is a cozy one, kind of like 3 people in the front seat of a Volkswagon Beetle.

After contacting “Wheels” via amateur radio while he was aboard ISS in mid-November I felt a personal connection to him and the crew of Expedition 25. It’s good to know they’re home safely!

On my second try at contacting ISS Expedition 25 Commander Doug Wheelock via amateur radio I was very happy to hear “Wheels” acknowledge my ham radio callsign (K9GX) during an orbital pass over the Great Lakes at about 1pm Sunday afternoon.

When the ISS crew is “on the air” at the NA1SS/RS0ISS amateur station it’s not uncommon for dozens, if not hundreds, of hams to be calling up from below. Its a lot like what I imagine being on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange must be like. Dozens of people shouting at you, wanting to be acknowledged. Timing and having a loud signal are critical.

I’ll post more later including streaming audio of portions of “Wheels” ham radio transmissions I recorded today. I was up at 5am to observe and image Venus before sunrise. After I put the telescope and other toys away I set about plugging in the ham radio and recording equipment because Cdr. Wheelock said he’d be on the radio again today.

Late this afternoon Wheels was on the air during another pass over the U.S. and Canada. During that pass Wheels said that NASA will announce that his “increment” aboard ISS will end a few days early. He will de-orbit with two crew-mates aboard a Russian Soyuz sometime before Thanksgiving. Presumably this is to accomodate the anticipated launch of Discovery mission STS-133 which was bumped to November 30 at the earliest following a series of technical glitches last week. Expect that announcement on Monday.

For now I’m very tired and going to watch some TV and get some sleep.

Remember, you read it on StarGeezerAstronomy.com

Clear Skies, Mark the StarGeezer

Because of cloud cover in the Louisville area Saturday evening I wasn’t able to SEE the International Space Station as it passed over the southeastern US. I did HEAR it. There is an amateur radio station aboard ISS. The ARISS (Amateur Radio on ISS) station consists of VHF and UHF equipment for FM voice and digital communications. Saturday evening’s pass brought ISS nearly directly overhead for those of us in Kentucky and southern Indiana. At my location the station’s peak altitude was 83 degrees off the northeastern horizon at about 6:55pm. I’ve been getting active on the ham radio bands recently and decided to listen for the ARISS station downlink since I knew I wouldn’t be able to watch the pass due to the cloud cover.

Image left: ISS Expedition 25 Commander Doug Wheelock, KF5BOC, operating the NA1SS amateur radio station aboard the space station. Courtesy NASA/AMSAT/ARRL

I have a bit of experience with ham radio from space. I’ve made several radio contacts using the early OSCAR satellites (Orbiting Satellite Carrying Amateur Radio) which have been in space since the late 1970’s. When Owen Garriot took the first amateur radio equipment aboard a Space Shuttle in the early 80’s I heard him on a scanner. In the 90’s I heard cosmonauts aboard MIR and contacted STS-58 as part of the SAREX (Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment) in 1994.

Saturday evening I didn’t expect to hear anything except possibly the ISS digital “packet” bulletin board. I tuned my VHF amateur transceiver to the ISS 2 meter band downlink frequency at 145.800 Mhz and started reading the manual on one of my telescope mounts. I turned the radio on at about 6:30pm and forgot about it.

At 6:52pm I heard a burst of noise on the radio and knew that meant some sort of signal was coming up on the frequency. I remembered ISS was coming and opened the radio’s squelch control so I would hear any signal, no matter how weak. A minute or so later the voice of Expedition 25 Commander Doug “Wheels” Wheelock, KF5BOC, crackled through the radio’s speaker. Wheels was acknowledging contact with an amateur station in Wisconsin. He gave the other station’s call and said “welcome aboard the International Space Station, this is NA1SS”. NA1SS is the amateur callsign American ISS crew members use when operating the station.

During the next few minutes I heard NA1SS work stations in Illinois Ohio, Tennessee, Arkansas and Georgia. The station in Georgia was a “mobile” (a person operating from a car)! Wheels commented that he thought he was over South Carolina but the Sun had just gone down aboard ISS and he couldn’t see the ground.

If you have a scanner I suggest you plug 145.800 Mhz into one of its memories. Wheels said he would be operating the radio again on Sunday. Remember, it doesn’t have to be a “visual” pass to be a “radio” pass. Sunday morning ISS will pass over the southeastern US at 11:19am. I’ll be at the radio hoping to hear and TALK TO Commander Wheels. You will have a better chance of hearing the ARISS downlink with an outside mounted antenna.  With a handheld scanner go outside.
There will also be “visble” ISS passes Monday evening (15) at 6:09 pm and Wednesday evening (17) at 5:25 pm in the Louisville area, weather permitting.

For information on ISS passes at any location on Earth click Heavens-Above.com

By Brian Williams NASA STS-133 Tweetup Attendee

After a full week of anticipation, the NASA Tweetup was unceremoniously canceled Friday morning. We awoke Thursday morning to cloudy skies and a downpour of rain and it was announced that they could not even begin fueling of the external tank in the weather so it was announced that there would be yet another 24hr hold.

Image left: Brian at the mission countdown clock sporting a serious case of “Launch Scrub Boo-Boo Face”.
 
Friday morning was cloudless and beautiful and we were all excited and confident that we would see a launch that day. All of the attendees that were left  (at this point we hangers on had taken to being called the “STS-133 survivors” for sticking around when half of the attendees had already returned to their homes) left their hotels and house-shares with the excitement of kids on Christmas morning. It was as we were getting out of our cars at the press site, that the news started to trickle in from people who had sources at the launch pad. There was another leak, and it was bad enough that repairs might push Discovery out of her launch window all together.

 Image left: NASA Tweetup Director Stephanie Shierholz delivers the bad news that Discovery’s launch would be postponed due to a leak on the external tank.
 
We slowly made our way to the “Tweetup Tent” with our heads held low, because we knew the news that was soon to be announced, and after waiting 30 minutes for confirmation, the director of the event, Stephanie Schierholz came in to give us the bad news. Her eyes were brimming with tears as she told us that the launch had been put on hold for another 72hrs to fix a 7 inch hole in the external tank and that this meant the end of the event and possibly a scrub for the launch all together as a similar problem had taken nearly a week to fix last time it occur ed. Even as she was speaking, a security guard drove out to the countdown clock and removed Discovery’s flag from the flagpole.
 
Some people took it in stride, others had no choice but to be heartbroken by missing the launch. Phylise Banner, whose father had worked on the Apollo program and had died earlier this year, had come to see the launch as a tribute to his memory and would now not get the chance for closure that she sought. The crew from GM, brought Robonaut out one more time, for pictures and a short demo, but that did nothing to help the mood. The rest of the day was spent consoling new friends and enjoying the last few moments together before we all went our separate ways.

 Image left:  As Helen Bensen would say “Gort! Klaatu Barada Nikto!”.
 
For the most part, its hard to be disappointed at the end of what was a wonderful experience. We got to hang out with numerous astronauts, got to be the first non-press allowed into the VAB since 1979, got right next to the pad for a closer look at the shuttle than most people ever get before a launch, we even got a special demonstration of Robonaut, and most of all, we were introduced to fellow space enthusiasts from all around the world, who shared a passion for the future.
 
As someone who has been following the space program since I was a kid, I took something from missing the launch of Discovery that is almost as much a revelation as I feel I would have had if I had seen it up close. With the numerous and completely unrelated problems that delayed the shuttle time and time again until the final delay, it just goes to show that as much as the shuttle program has achieved over the years, it is a dated and very overly complicated vehicle.

The Space Shuttle is a beautiful piece of equipment, but the specters of Challenger and Columbia still hang over every launch and so even the slightest irregularity is cause for major concern and delay. The future of mankind is in space, but we need to find simpler and safer ways of getting there, whether that is through commercial spaceflight efforts like SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, or a new NASA centralized government program like the now dead Constellation program. It may be easy to romanticize the shuttle for its years of service, but the Human Spaceflight Program is too important to allow ourselves to hold onto antiquated and temperamental equipment out of a sense of nostalgia, or even to keep ourselves from relying on others for a while.

 Image left: NASA security lowers Discovery’s flag following the announcement that the Mission Management team scrubbed the STS-133 launch until at least November 30.

Regardless of missing the launch, I will never forget my week of being a VIP at the agency that put man on the moon. It was once in a lifetime, and I will cherish the memories and friends that were made for the rest of my life.

Note from Mark, the StarGeezer: Brian Williams is a freelance writer who lives in the Louisville area. He was selected as a NASA STS-133 Tweetup attendee in an online drawing. I greatly appreciate Brian sharing his experiences at the Kennedy Space Center. Contact Brian here. Click any image to enlarge

The STS-133 launch has been postponed until Thursday due to voltage irregularities in the main engines.  On Tuesday NASA Tweetup attendees visited the launch pad 39A area and were treated to a surprise visit to VAB, the Vehicle Assembly Building. Read Brian Williams’ (@DeepSpacer) Tweets from throughout the day below.

Photo left: NASA Tweetup participants raise their hands in celebration as they stand in front of Launch Pad 39A prior to the launch of Discovery (STS-133), Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2010, at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Photo Credit: (NASA/Paul E. Alers)

@DeepSpacer Tweets: 

Good morning from the “early bird executive suite”

 Good Morning from the ” early bird executive suite”

1pm Voltage irregularities in the main engine!?! Nooooooooooooo!

DeepSpacer    So there are some voltage irregularities in the main engine during it’s check out this morning. More info at 3:00pm conference.

3pm DeepSpacer    Just found out we’re actually getting to go inside the VAB!

Photo left: @PAOLady The golden ticket to the VAB!!

Just got out of the VAB. The scale, the history, and the potential makes our visit feel like a religious experience. The VAB is 52 and a half stories

 Image left: #NASATweetup attendees get a surprise visit inside @NASAKennedy’s Vehicle Assembly Building

DeepSpacer    The launch is on hold until Thursday now. The fate of the tweetup itself is uncertain at this point but with all we’ve seen I can’t complain

Photo left: #NASATweetup participants salve their disappointment in the launch delay with a visit to Discovery.

Follow the launch of STS-133 here on StarGeezerAstronomy.com. Louisville area amateur astronomer Brian Williams (no relation) is one of 150 space enthusiasts who were chosen to attend the launch of Shuttle Discovery and participate in a NASA “Tweet UP” to chronicle his experiences. STS-133 is currently scheduled for launch at 3:52 pm ET, Wednesday, November 3rd. After the launch Brian will share the story of his visit to the Kennedy Space Center and the final launch of Shuttle Discovery.

Monday, November 1

Brian’s Daily Summary: “Day one of the NASA Tweetup was an exciting mix of speakers on what it takes to get Discovery ready for it’s final flight and the rigors of space travel, to how a social network site like Twitter has turned into a valuable source of Science education.

After the speakers were done, NASA treated us to private demonstrations of the ACES survival suit worn by astronauts during launch and re-entry”

On Monday the NASA Tweetup team toured NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, including the International Space Station Center and Apollo Saturn V Center and a drive by the Shuttle Landing Facility, Mate-Demate Device, Orbiter Processing Facility, Vehicle Assembly Building and Mobile Launcher Platforms. The last stop on the tour was Launch Pad 39A.
They visited the media press center, saw demonstrations of the ACES launch and entry suits worn by Shuttle crew members and Robonaut 2.
Tweetup participants heard presentations by Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for Space Operations Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters;  Stephanie Stilson, NASA Discovery flow director, Launch Vehicle Processing Directorate, Kennedy Space Center and Astronaut Ron Garan (@Astro_Ron)

 Demonstration of the ACES launch and entry suit

 @DeepSpacer “In the NASA press room, never realized it was so tiny” Demonstration of Robonaut 2

NASATweetup attendees pose by the clock as it counts down to space shuttle Discovery’s launch Nov 3.

NASATweetup attendees get an up close and personal look at Discovery on its launch pad.
launch pad

Arrival and registration

Shooting the Rocket Garden at the KSC visitor’s complex

Mike Mullane forcing me to buy his book…again  

The second launch delay has really put a kink in things, now it’s a gamble as to whether or not I get to see it go up

Go out at sunset, around 9 pm, and see if you can spot the two day young Moon about 4 degrees below and to the right of Venus.

Bring your binoculars. The Moon will be a very thin crescent with most of it’s disc bathed in earth glow. Refer to the chart which I prepared using the Stellarium planetarium freeware program. Venus and the Moon will appear between the “horns” of Taurus, the bull some 8 degrees above and to the right of the red giant star Aldeberan. Aldeberan is the “eye” of the bull and will be hugging the horizon.

Try and spot Taurus’ horn-tip stars Zeta and Beta Tauri. Click on the close up chart for a better view.

As the Moon is setting a little after 9:30 keep your eyes skyward. Observers in the Louisville area will be treated to a spacecraft “convoy” as the International Space Station streaks over followed by Atlantis which will be playing catch-up with the station. ISS will approach at about 9:32 from the NW to SE peaking about 50 degrees above the NE horizon. STS-132 will follow ISS by about 10 minutes appearing to the west (left) of where you saw ISS at 9:49 pm peaking at 66 degrees above the SW horizon.

Atlantis will appear to the west of ISS and much higher than ISS because it is flying about 50 miles below ISS’ altitude. The Station is orbiting at about 220 statute miles up, Atlantis about 175. That’s how the Shuttle catches up with the Station.

The other reason Atlantis will appear to the west of where you saw ISS is because YOU will have moved east some 150 miles in the 10 minutes since the Station passed. You’re standing on the Earth’s surface which, here in Kentuckiana, is spinning eastward at about 900 mph!

Atlantis was launched Friday afternoon and will dock with ISS around 10 am Sunday morning. STS-132 is delivering the Russian Mini Research Module called Rassvet which is the Russian word for “dawn”. The MRM will add an additional docking port and airlock to the Russian segment of ISS. On the trip up it’s packed full of supplies. The STS-132 crew will replace six batteries which store power from the Station’s solar panels and deliver a spare communications dish during three planned spacewalks. STS-132 will be Atlantis’ 32nd and final trip into space.

Over those 32 flights Atlantis has travelled about 115 million miles. That’s a lot of miles but, to put Solar System distances into perspective, Mars is about 130 million miles from Earth now.

Find STS-132 updates from NASA

I’ll see you at the Blackacre event.

Clear skies!