|
|
|
|
|
Station visible over most of the U.S. during holidays NASA NEWS RELEASE Posted: December 25, 2004 Santa will have company in the sky over most of the United States this holiday season. The International Space Station is visible in the early morning, flying by at five miles a second. Information about how, when and where to see it is available on the Internet at: http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/isssightings. All sightings available from U.S. cities during the holidays are pre-dawn sightings. The Station is not expected to be visible in the evenings. The 200-ton plus Station, which is more than 170 feet long and 240 feet wide, will be visible from most continental U.S. cities, as well as Juneau, Alaska, on various days between Christmas Eve and New Year's Day. The Station's crew, Expedition 10 Commander Leroy Chiao and Flight Engineer Salizhan Sharipov, will celebrate the holidays aboard the orbiting research complex this year. Chiao and Sharipov will get a special delivery on Dec. 25 as a Russian cargo spacecraft docks with the Station. The cargo ship will bring 5,000 pounds of supplies, including food, water, fuel, spare equipment and Christmas presents from home. For those areas with opportunities to view the Station on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day mornings, the Progress cargo spacecraft also may be visible as it closes in on the Station. The Progress is scheduled to dock with the International Space Station about 7:05 p.m. EST. The docking will be carried live on NASA TV. Holiday greetings from the Station crew, video of Mission Control's season's greetings and footage of Mission Control tracking Santa Claus also are airing daily on NASA TV. NASA TV is available on the Web and via satellite in the continental U.S. on AMC-6, Transponder 9C, C-Band, at 72 degrees west longitude. The frequency is 3880.0 MHz. Polarization is vertical, and audio is monaural at 6.80 MHz. In Alaska and Hawaii, NASA TV is available on AMC-7, Transponder 18C, C-Band, at 137 degrees west longitude. The frequency is 4060.0 MHz. Polarization is vertical, and audio is monaural at 6.80 MHz. Chiao and Sharipov are a third of the way through a six-month stay conducting research aboard the complex. Research aboard the Station helps people learn how to live and work for long periods in space. That information is a crucial step in realizing the Vision for Space Exploration, which in the years ahead will return humans to the moon and see them journey to Mars and beyond. |
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
The Boeing Delta 4-Heavy rocket is launched from Cape Canaveral on its demonstration flight. (4min 35sec file)
An onboard camera records the launch of Boeing's Delta 4-Heavy rocket from liftoff through separation of the outer boosters. (4min 40sec file)
The Lockheed Martin Atlas 5 rocket launches at 7:07 a.m. EST from Cape Canaveral carrying the AMERICOM 16 communications spacecraft. (6min 22sec file)
The sunrise launch of Atlas 5 is shown in this view from the Kennedy Space Center press site at Complex 39. (QuickTime file)
Riding on its mobile launching platform, the Atlas 5 rocket is rolled from its assembly building to the launch pad at Complex 41 just hours before the scheduled liftoff time carrying AMC 16. (4min 41sec file)
Rick Grammier, NASA's Deep Impact project manager from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, provides a detailed overview of the spacecraft and its mission. (4min 54sec file)
Deep Impact principal investigator Michael A'Hearn explains how the comet collision will occur and what scientists hope to learn. (7min 11sec file)