A selection of images and animations featuring the International Space Station as seen from the ground (Wirral UK )

Using telescope and webcam equipment , even the station crew were surprised how much detail could be revealed

"Give John my compliments for the images . You can see the deployed radiators on the S1 and P1 trusses"

Don Pettit , Expedition 6 crew Science Officer.April 3 2003 from aboard ISS

Station in mid flight on the evening of July 17 2004.Elevation of the pass was 62 degs , Estimated magnitude -0.7




Another fleeting glimpse of the station , this time the evening of July 18. 2215 gmt .Elevation 52 degs , mag -0.6




Encounter with Jupiter

Click and go !

A short video clip showing ISS passing by Jupiter.... 2037 gmt May 25 2004 filmed from 880 m south of the centre line.Field of view is 30 arc minutes .

Data from Calsky.com
21h37m10.54s ISS Close to Jupiter.
Separation: 0.06d Position Angle: 353.4d
Angular Velocity: 46.9'/s
Angular diameter: 33.9" size: 73.0m x 44.5m x 27.5m
Satellite at az: 217.9d SW h: 40.3d dist: 546.9 km mag=-0.9m
Satellite apparently moves to direction 263.4°
Path direction: 105.2d ESE ground speed: 7.476 km/s width: 0.4 km max. duration: 0.0 s

* I S S 3D fun......

Click here to see ISS in 3D as captured on May 17 2004 *

Station seen moving into shadow on the morning of December 29 2003.

December 7 2003 , ISS has a close encounter with Mars.

Thanks to Tom Fly and Arnold Barmettler it was possible to calculate a suitable location to see the Mars encounter.I had to travel nearly 20 miles to the site , near to Queensferry , Deeside , where the owner of a local farm allowed me to use his yard as a base.

There were a few last minute problems obtaining the latest keps , but I managed to capture a couple of frames showing the station tracking just below Mars.(with the naked eye it looked as if ISS transited the planet , however it actually passed about 0.07 degrees below)

The image below shows the location , with the very narrow "possible transit corridor" highlighted in yellow. I was a few yards outside the corridor , a little to the north.


This three frame animation shows the station passing below Mars

And these are the individual frames shot at 1/500th sec , 10 FPS

Finally , here are the details as predicted by CalSky.com

17h41m08.30s ISS Close to Mars. Separation: 0.05d Position Angle: 165.5d
Angular Velocity: 35.0'/s Angular diameter: 27.9" size: 73.0m x 44.5m x 27.5m Satellite at az: 159.4d SSE h: 32.3d dist: 664.8 km mag=-0.6m
Satellite apparently moves to direction 255.5° Centerline ?Map: Lon:356d58m04s Lat: +53d11m22s dist: 0.94 km az: 202.7d SSW Path direction: 112.7d ESE ground speed: 7.812 km/s width: 0.1 km max. duration: 0.0 s

Click to access STS 112 docking page



Check out the December 2001 edition of ESA's "On Station" (Issue number 7 )

The newsletter of the Directorate of Manned Spaceflight and Microgravity.

It features John's article about imaging ISS . . . . "Seeing is Believing!" .

"On Station"

ESA TV

Europe's own Space Channel on Eutelsat W1 10 degrees East





NASA TV a window on the Universe.

NASA TV in Europe ? Make the dream a reality , support the campaign to bring NASA TV to European screens. Email SATCOM with your comments.

John@satcom.freeserve.co.uk


With the International Space Station now permanently manned follow developments via the NASA Human Space Flight site

Click here to link to NASA's real time tracking facility which includes ISS and Shuttle missions

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