See the International Space Station pass over Staffordshire this May … – Stoke Sentinel

Comments(0)

The International Space Station is passing over Staffordshire in May 2017 - and there's chance to see it as long as the night skies are clear.

The ISS is the brightest man-made object in the sky and the third brightest overall.

It can sometimes be spotted during the day but is mostly visible at night during part of the 10 minutes it takes to travel from one horizon to the other.

Read more: Toy store The Entertainer set to open Stoke-on-Trent shop

The space station is visible as a bright white dot because of sunlight reflecting off its surface and it should be possible to get a glimpse when it passes over Staffordshire this month.

It can sometimes be mistaken for a fast-moving plane or a shooting star.

The ISS is moving at four-and-a-half miles per second or about 17,500 miles per hour as it orbits the earth about 15 times a day from more than 200 miles up.

The station is a research facility and has a crew of six who may well be looking down on us as we look up at them.

The first expedition launched in October 2000. More than 200 people have visited it since then.

In 2012, NASA launched a Spot The Station service giving notifications of when the ISS is calculated to be visible from specific locations on the earth's surface.

Read more: Do you have OCD, think you do, or know someone else who does? These producers want to hear from you

Date

Visible

Max Height

Appears

Disappears

Tue May 9, 4:20 AM

3 min

14

10 above S

10 above ESE

Thu May 11, 4:11 AM

5 min

24

11 above SSW

10 above E

Fri May 12, 3:21 AM

3 min

16

15 above SSE

11 above ESE

Sat May 13, 2:31 AM

< 1 min

10

10 above SE

10 above ESE

Sat May 13, 4:03 AM

5 min

37

14 above SW

10 above E

Sun May 14, 3:13 AM

4 min

27

23 above S

10 above E

Mon May 15, 2:22 AM

2 min

18

18 above SE

11 above ESE

Mon May 15, 3:55 AM

6 min

53

12 above WSW

10 above E

Tue May 16, 3:05 AM

4 min

41

29 above SSW

11 above E

Wed May 17, 2:14 AM

2 min

29

29 above SE

11 above E

Wed May 17, 3:47 AM

6 min

67

10 above WSW

11 above E

Thu May 18, 1:23 AM

1 min

15

15 above ESE

10 above E

Thu May 18, 2:56 AM

5 min

58

22 above WSW

10 above E

Thu May 18, 4:31 AM

< 1 min

15

10 above W

15 above W

Fri May 19, 2:06 AM

4 min

46

42 above SSW

10 above E

Fri May 19, 3:39 AM

6 min

70

10 above W

11 above E

Sat May 20, 1:15 AM

2 min

28

Read more here:
See the International Space Station pass over Staffordshire this May ... - Stoke Sentinel