North Merritt Island Satellite Viewing Page

Merritt Island Satellite Viewing Welcome to the North Merritt Island Neighborhood Association satellite viewing page. As most of you know, just about everything launched from the Kennedy Space Center - and a lot of stuff launched from Russia, French Guiana and China - passes overhead at one time or another. If you've never seen the International Space Station or the Hubble Space Telescope sail overhead, you might not realize what you've been missing. So take a moment and take a look! Got questions? Feel free to email me! If I don't know the answer, I'll try to find someone who does.
Merritt Island Viewing Charts

Click on the ISS or HST links below to call up a list of upcoming viewing opportunities for those of us living in Merritt Island. Click on a date and you'll get a map showing the satellite's track across the sky. The map page will also show you when the satellite will rise (or emerge from Earth's shadow); when it will reach maximum elevation; and when it will set (or disappear into Earth's shadow). Click on the Daily Predictions link to see a list of everything - bright or dim, easy or hard to spot - that will be visible that night from your driveway or backyard. International Space Station Hubble Space Telescope Heavens Above Daily Predictions Space Coast Cloud Cover Spaceflight Meteorology Group 4-kilometer Infrared Satellite Image General Satellite Imagery Earth Watch Forecast National Weather Service/Melbourne The satellite viewing predictions are generated by the Heavens Above website, which you can easily use to make predictions for anywhere in the country. Or the world, for that matter. The links above have been set up for residents of Merritt Island. A few points to keep in mind: The higher a satellite's "max elevation," the easier it is to spot. If the maximum elevation is below 35 degrees or so, you might have trouble spotting it. And as one might expect, the darker the sky, the better the viewing. A bright moon or a nearby streetlight can drown out the light from even a bright satellite like the international space station. Remember to give your eyes time to adjust to the darkness and be patient. The satellite will be there. You job is to find it! For more tips, visit the Visual Satellite Observer's home page.
Ocean Valiant Viewing Charts

Of course, you don't have to live in Merritt Island. You can be in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico and see these babies fly over. So just for Augie and the boys on the Ocean Valiant... International Space Station Hubble Space Telescope Heavens Above Daily Predictions Gulf of Mexico Weather National Hurricane Center