Shuttle Launch Visible from Ireland Tonight

Calibos · 12-07-2009 2:42pm #1

Just a heads up about tonights Shuttle Launch. It was postponed last night due to a Lightning strike at the launch pad and has been re-scheduled for tonight. Very Lucky for us as the weather yesterday and last night was attrocious whereas tonight the forecast is for some clear skies.

Should be higher up and brighter too than if they had launched last night.

Its certainly visible from Ireland and I presume from parts of the UK.

Its going to be a treat of manmade objects blazing across the heavens tonight. At about 12:01 am there is a 70º altitude ISS pass followed shortly thereafter by a Progress Re-supply vehicle on its way to the ISS. Then at about 12:30 we will see the Shuttle and its Jettisoned Orange main fuel tank a degree or so below blaze across the skies 18 minutes after its launch from Florida in the USA.

Get out there with your Bino's and laptops and watch the Launch on Nasa TV. It'll be cool if they show live footage of the Fuel Tank Jettisoning and you'll be able to see the real deal at the same time!

Just thought I would post this in a separate thread to the STS128 to the ISS thread. That thread title might not catch the eye of casual browsers and they might not realise that the subject of that thread has become the Shuttle and Jettisoned main fuel tank visible from Ireland tonight.

drunkmonkey · 12-07-2009 2:44pm

Can you see it with the naked eye, what will it look like, shooting star?

Wella · 12-07-2009 3:48pm

Thanks for the heads up

Calibos · 12-07-2009 3:56pm

drunkmonkey wrote: »

Can you see it with the naked eye, what will it look like, shooting star?

Not a shooting star with a tail. But it'll look like a pair or bright stars moving across the southern sky west to east quite fast. Not sure if one will be able to detect the orange tint of the jettisoned main fuel tank with the naked eye, but the orange colour should be visible in Binoculars.

The ISS pass before hand will be higher in the sky nearly over head travelling from west to east and that should be really bright. If you remember the really bright star in the west last Christmas which was actually the Planet Venus or if you have recently seen a really bright star in the South east in the wee hours on your way home from the pub which is actually the Planet Jupiter, well then that will give you an idea of how bright the ISS passing overhead will be. The Shuttle and Fuel Tank will be a bit dimmer than that though.

Heres a vid of the last time a shuttle launch and fuel tank was visible from Ireland.

mike65 · 12-07-2009 4:00pm

Two of them!

You can track it here.

http://spaceflight1.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/cities/view.cgi?country=Ireland&region=None&city=Waterford

Ricky91t · 12-07-2009 4:09pm

Cool i'm gonna look out for this

,I have open fields to the left(west) of my house so a nice clear sky,Is this where i'll see it?(looking in the general direction of America?

Thargor · 12-07-2009 9:27pm

Anyone know what the story is now that it was delayed? Wheres the best place to track this?

Calibos · 12-07-2009 9:32pm

It was last nights launch that was delayed 24 hours due to Lightning strikes on the Launch pad. Its a Go for Launch tonight as far as I know unless you have new info Thargor mate.

Ostrom · 12-07-2009 9:40pm

Calibos wrote: »

It was last nights launch that was delayed 24 hours due to Lightning strikes on the Launch pad. Its a Go for Launch tonight as far as I know unless you have new info Thargor mate.

Hope the weather holds...

amacachi · 12-07-2009 9:43pm

Naked eye any use?

murphyme · 12-07-2009 9:47pm

amacachi wrote: »

Naked eye any use?

It's a lovely naked eye sight, well worth watching.

Michael.

mike65 · 12-07-2009 9:58pm

Typically its clouded in.

refusetolose · 12-07-2009 10:00pm

full of clouds here in cork too

Ostrom · 12-07-2009 10:02pm

Looks like a large storm moving toward Dublin from Kildare

Thargor · 12-07-2009 10:05pm

Its clear-ish in Galway, around 00:30 tonight then is it? What was the exact time?

120_Minutes · 12-07-2009 10:15pm

according to nasa tv, launch is 7:15 local time, so 12:15 here.

skelliser · 12-07-2009 10:17pm

according to heavens above iss will pass at 12.01
shuttle will launch at 12.13 so around 12.25-12.30 should be the time to have a look

Thargor · 12-07-2009 10:20pm

Sweet, thanks, still clear skies here, touch wood.

12-07-2009 10:28pm

Thanks for letting us know about this. Skies are semi-clear here in Galway, so fingers crossed that the conditions hold.

floydmoon1 · 12-07-2009 10:55pm

Should I be looking north or south for this.
What area if Ireland will it pass over.

skelliser · 12-07-2009 11:22pm

you should look to the south west all the objects will come from that direction, cross the sky and fade out in the east

mike65 · 12-07-2009 11:48pm

There is a link above to show when and where.

Fuzzy Clam · 12-07-2009 11:56pm

Sky News just announced a no go.
Edit. They now say NASA are still monitoring the situation.

Mr Benevolent · 12-07-2009 11:57pm

Looks like the launch is going to be scrubbed - there are thunderstorms close by

(The countdown is still going though, no announcement yet)

draward · 13-07-2009 12:00am

Hi guys is it going or not

:rolleyes::)

draward · 13-07-2009 12:04am

Sorry guys no launch fox news tommrow at 6:15 pm:(:(:(:(:(:(

Calibos · 13-07-2009 12:05am

No. Just as well too. Weather not playing ball for most of us to see it here anyway. Forecast clear patch arriving behind schedule near dawn as opposed to midnight like the weather sites were forecasting earlier.

Mr Benevolent · 13-07-2009 12:05am

Nope, it's not going. Tomorrow maybe.

Thargor · 13-07-2009 12:05am

NASA TV says its scrubbed:

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html

Tomorrow, damn it, had clear skies in Galway aswell, doh.

Doc Farrell · 13-07-2009 12:13am

saw the iss for 10 seconds. very cloudy in dublin. very cool though.

jumpguy · 13-07-2009 12:17am

Yerra feck. Reasonable skies here, enough to see the ISS anyway.

With the launch so early in the evening tomorrow (6.15pm) will it be visible?

Shuttle Launch Visible from Ireland Tonight

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