Colorado residents will have an opportunity tonight to see three spacecraft in the skies overhead.
The Air Force Space Command based at Peterson Air Force Base released details today that will help would-be viewers spot the ships — clouds willing.
Over the course of five minutes, beginning at 9:04 p.m., the spacecraft will be seen rising over the horizon in the south/southwestern sky.
Each ship will be visible until it passes into the Earth’s shadow, about a minute later.
The first of the three is the European Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV), a supply ship awaiting a rendezvous and docking with the International Space Station in about a week.
The station, itself, will be orbiting behind the ATV. It should be visible at 9:08 p.m.
The space shuttle Endeavour undocked from the space station last night and is trailing it by about 50 miles. It should appear at 9:09 p.m.
Several times a year, watchers can spot two ships in the sky, whenever shuttles are docking or undocking with the space station, according to former shuttle commander Jeff Ashby, who is NASA’s liaison to Peterson.
But what’s happening tonight is special.
“That’s very rare,” he said. “I’ve never had an opportunity to see three.”
He says everyone in Colorado will have this chance tonight, if the skies remain mostly clear.
“What I try to do is encourage parents to take their kids out because it teaches them about space and can encourage them to learn more,” Ashby said.
The ships may reflect sunlight so they can be seen from the Earth’s surface with the naked eye.
Ashby said they will appear as white stars moving across the night sky.
The ships are orbiting the Earth at about 240 miles in altitude and are traveling at about 17,500 mph, relative to the Earth’s surface.
Wednesday night will provide a second viewing opportunity, starting at 7:56 p.m., but just the ATV and space station will be visible as Endeavour is scheduled to land in Florida tomorrow.
“The space station is visible about 10 nights a month, and about 10 mornings a month,” Ashby said.
“It happens when the orbit coincides with sunrise or sunset, so it’s in sunlight, and we’re in darkness.”
