Get a Free Email Alert from NASA When The International Space Station Flies over Your House

Moved to Forum: Original Link

Thought I'd share this one, bit unusual, but will come in handy I suppose.

Did you know you can see the International Space Station from your house? As the third brightest object in the sky, after the sun and moon, the space station is easy to see if you know where and when to look for it.

NASA’s Spot the Station service sends you an email or text message a few hours before the space station passes over your house. The space station looks like a fast-moving plane in the sky, though one with people living and working aboard it more than 200 miles above the ground. It is best viewed on clear nights. For more information on the International Space Station and its mission, visit the space station mission pages.

Spot the Station is available worldwide to anyone with an email account or SMS-enabled phone. Several times a week, Mission Control at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX, determines sighting opportunities for 4,600 locations worldwide. If your specific city or town isn’t listed, pick one that is fairly close to you. The space station is visible for a long distance around each of the listed locations.

This service will only notify you of “good” sighting opportunities - that is, sightings that are high enough in the sky (40 degrees or more) and last long enough to give you the best view of the orbiting laboratory. This will be anywhere from once or twice a week to once or twice a month, depending on the space station’s orbit. Don’t worry if there are big gaps in between sightings! A complete list of all possible space station sightings is available from Johnson Space Center.

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National Aeronautics and Space Administration
National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Comments

  • +1 for unusual freebie.

  • +1

    What is the regular price??? :)

    • +1

      Is that you jv?

      • i haven't vote -ve yet ;)

        • +2

          He doesn't always vote -, but you seem to be missing the crucial ingredient:

          What is the regular price??? :(

    • Priceless

  • Get free spam?

  • +1

    email would be too late, SMS makes more sense

    • Damn straight, that sucker moves fast too…horizon to horizon in a couple of minutes IIRC! ;)

    • The e-mail is sent about 9 hours in advance.

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