Monday, January 16, 2006

Starlight Starbright

WOW! I have always been fascinated with all things celestial, and space exploration. I've had the great privilege of witnessing 2-3 launches of the space shuttle. Tonight, I can add yet another experience to my "space watch resume". The International Space Station was due to fly over head.

A friend emailed Russell the details, and we both made mental notes to remember to "go out and look". Mother Nature was most gracious, and allowed clear skies. Our neighborhood is heavily wooded, so we drove off to find a better vantage point. There is a church built on a hillside not too far from our home. So we parked, and found ourselves in the perfect position to watch.

And we did. And we saw. The ISS flew right over. We used the binoculars I inherited from my Father, and we were able to watch it as it moved across the sky. What an incredible feeling it was. The only word that comes to mind seems a bit cliché, but... it was truly AWESOME!

2 comments:

Michael Friedman said...

On Discovery's Return to Flight mission last year, the day before the shuttle landed, my wife and I went out to look at the shuttle and ISS fly overhead. It was truly amazing watching a speck of light, Discovery, soaring overhead in the predawn darkness. Following it by about a minute was the ISS. We were both awed by these lights in the sky. Feel free to check out my blog -- it started as a documentary of my trip to Florida to watch Discovery launch in 2005.

Thanks! Michael
http://spaces.msn.com/members/auxumbilicus/

Ranger Bob said...

Hey, cool!

Nice to learn about your blog, Annie.

I always wanted to watch a liftoff, myself, so several years back, when the news came out that John Glenn was going to return to space, I said "This is it!"

(Hey, I watched him on TV the first time around!)

So, the minute they announced the launch date, I put in for vacation time and wrote to NASA for a viewing area pass. As it turned out, I was early enough that I got a pass for the absolute closest spot that's open to the public. Only the VIP's were closer than us!

Needless to say it was a memorable experience.