An Encounter with the International Space Station

Another beautiful day today, again almost completely spring-like.  Particularly pleasant behind glass, the breeze that has been so cold of late has warmed a little.

 

I went outside this evening to caqtch a sight of the International Space Station (ISS) as it passed over Cornwall.  There was still light in the ky at 7.09pm and I wondered whether I would be able to see it.  I needn't have worried.  From the West came a golden ember that travelled more than twice as fast as the airliners that pass by going to or from the USA.

 

It was literally a brilliant sight and what made it even more poingnant was the fact tat I have been reading Tweets from one of it's astronauts.  Soichi Nguchi is an astronaut currently onboard the ISS and a very active member of Twitter @astro_soichi. The connection between me in our back garden, on an almost balmy evening, in the last glow of an evening sun and a group of people sailing outside the atmosphere, was something special.  I felt like our cottage was my station and I was on an earthbound spacewalk.

 

I have been getting alerts of an impending flyover of the ISS via Twitter for quite sometime, ( setup instructions at http://twisst.nl ), but kept forgetting at the last minute.  I will definitely making extra effort to get out and watch in future.