The International Space Station will be visible to the naked eye tonight. The station orbits the Earth at a height of 254 miles and travels at a mind-blowing 17,500 miles per hour, or 4.76 miles per second.
On Wednesday night, August 4, it will become visible at 8:55 PM in the northwestern sky and will travel to the southeast. It will be visible for about six minutes.
The space station will look like a bright star, like the North Star, and will be moving quickly across the evening sky.
The space station passes overhead many times a day but lighting conditions usually make it difficult or impossible to see. All sightings will occur within a few hours before or after sunrise or sunset. This is the optimum viewing period as the sun reflects off the space station and contrasts against the darker sky.
Seven people from four countries are currently on the International Space Station’s Expedition 65:
- Akihiko Hoshide, Japan – Current commander of the International Space Station
- Pyotr Dubrov, Russia
- Shane Kimbrough, USA
- Megan McArthur, USA
- Thomas Pesquet, France
- Oleg Novitskiy, Russia
- Mark Vande Hei, USA
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