Traveling at about 17,500 miles per hour, the International Space Station circles the Earth every 90 minutes. The crew aboard sees 16 sunrises and sunsets daily. Weather permitting, you can easily spot the space station as it traverses the sky above our Morongo Basin this evening. Reporter Mike Lipsitz has this on when and where to look…
When conditions are favorable, earthbound viewers can see the International Space Station illuminated by sunlight and contrasted against the night sky. Orbiting high above the Earth, the station looks like an airplane or a very bright star moving at approximately five miles per second. Head outdoors a few minutes after 6 p.m. tonight to allow your eyes to adjust. Roughly the length of a football field, and weighing about as much as 320 automobiles, the space station is expected to move into view at 6:12 p.m. low on the horizon coming from the south-southwest. It will take about three minutes to cross our sky then disappear in the east-southeast by 6:15 p.m. It doesn’t actually disappear; but rather moves into the Earth’s shadow which obscures our view. If you are not sure which way is south-southwest, grab a compass, it will help.
