When to see the International Space Station in Lancashire skies this week – Lancs Live

Night owls across Lancashire will be able to see the International Space Station over the next few nights.

Tonight (March 30) the ISS will be visible to the naked eye at around 9.13pm for a period of around five minutes at a height of 33 degrees.

The ISS is visible when the sunlight reflects off of it and comes back down to Earth and this evening residents in parts of Lancashire should be able to spot its distinctive V shape.

Budding astronomer Linda Preston snapped an impressive photo above Darwen earlier this week.

The ISS always appears from the South West and travels in a straight line to the East.

The International Space Station is a large spacecraft that has been orbiting the earth since its launch on November 20, 1998, and travels at 17.500mph at an altitude of roughly 200 miles.

It has been permanently staffed by rotating crews of astronauts and cosmonauts since November 2000.

Research conducted aboard the ISS, which is the size of a football pitch, often requires one or more of the unusual conditions present in low Earth orbit, such as low-gravity or oxygen.

ISS studies have investigated human research, space medicine, life sciences, physical sciences, astronomy and meteorology.

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When to see the International Space Station in Lancashire skies this week - Lancs Live