Fun New Kickstarter is a Space Station Detector

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ISS-Above lights up when the International Space Station is going to fly over your location.

Theres a coffee shop in Pasadena, California that has a cool little device that lights up whenever the International Space Station is going to passover head, providing a little science lesson for patrons of the cafe. Called ISS-Above, the device is the brainchild of Liam Kennedy, a web designer, amateur astronomer and space enthusiast, and theres a new Kickstarter for the project that will make the device available to anyone.

Its both an awareness thing, so more people get to know the Space Station is in their sky, says Kennedy, and its also to let those who are up there know that we know and appreciate what they are doing!

Thats because not only does it light up when the ISS is nearby, it can also Tweet a message to the Space Station. Plus it has its own built-in web server to give you a ton of information about current and future passes.

It runs on a Raspberry Pi system with a memory card that can be loaded with your location information, so if you are a computer geek, this is totally up your alley! LEDs light up to alert you to the space stations presence. There are different case options depending on how youd like your own personal ISS-Above to look, including some colorful 3D-printed options.

But arent there already apps available that do this?

True, said Kennedy, and I probably have almost all of them, talking about the apps that will tell you when the ISS is going to be passing by.

Those are great BUT thats not what ISS-Above is about, Kennedy said. I wanted something small; a physical device that can just sit on a window sill or on a shelf beside the TV and light up every time the ISS is making a pass in my sky. Having these in my house for the past few months really has me understand the difference it makes to see just how frequently it passes nearby.

For this Kickstarter, there are reward options that contain a complete ISS-Above and one of two types of colorful LED display devices, the PiGlow or the Ledborg. The PiGlow is unique with its circular/spiral layout while the Ledborg is intensely bright.

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Fun New Kickstarter is a Space Station Detector