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www.southgatearc.org
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ISS visible to naked eyeInternational Space Station and orbiting satellites
The ISS is generally only visible just after sunset or just before dawn. Twice a year, however, it moves out of the Earth's shadow and can be seen with the naked eye as it passes overhead. It will be visible up to four times in a night. The ISS orbits the planet at 7.7km every second, but since it is a mere 400km up, and has so many solar panels, it is bright enough that it is easily visible to the naked eye - as long as you know where to look. The European Space Agency has charts showing the best viewing times for the next week or so at various locations across Europe, so make a note, do an anti-rain dance and turn your peepers skywards. As an alternative you could download a copy of SatScape (freeware) from http://www.satscape.co.uk/. SatScape shows the orbit and other data about the International Space Station, Weather Sats and various Amateur Radio carrying Satellites such as AO-10 and AO-51. The orbit data is constantly updated in real-time and shows when each chosen satellite should be visible; even if cloudy you should be able to hear (or talk to/through) them if your radio equipment covers the correct frequencies. 73 John G0GDU
• As previously mentioned http://www.southgatearc.org/news/june2006/qrp_only.htm the International Space Station (ISS) cross-band repeater (437.8 MHz Input, 145.8 MHz output) should be operational from 22nd June
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