posted 04-27-2009 04:54 PM               

Do You Know Where Your Space Station Is?

Tired of those boring old tracking maps that show the space station going around and around the Earth, and wondering what the view from up there must be like?

Well, what better way to celebrate Earth Day than by taking a look at the Earth below from where the International Space Station is right now? Thanks to the wonders of the World Wide Web (the Internet, that is), real-time tracking data beamed down from the space station and the fabulous catalog of NASA handheld orbital photography -- the Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth -- you can do just that!

How it works, go to: Photos from the International Space Station

NASA's web site will check the telemetry from the space station and gather its exact latitude and longitude as it orbits about 200 miles over the Earth, traveling 17,500 miles an hour, making one full orbit every hour and a half. Using that information, the web site will check the extensive collection of images that have been taken from as far back as the Gemini Program, and return to you images of rivers, lakes, mountains, cities, railroads, ports, volcanoes, deserts and islands below.

Since the Earth's surface is three-quarters water, the web site will draw a virtual "box" around the latitude and longitude found, and expand that box if necessary to find some photos of land masses or islands that are nearby. Though taken at different times and under different sunlight than the current time, the images display the many facets of the Earth.

While this isn't exactly giving you an opportunity to remotely snap a picture from the space station, it's the next best thing - and you'll rarely get a picture of a cloudy day below!

posted 04-28-2009 05:02 AM               

There's no information on how often the photos are refreshed and unless you use this in combination with "those boring old tracking maps" (which, e.g. Heavens Above, happen to be better than anything NASA has produced), you will never stand a chance of seeing a photo of your locality, unless by chance.

posted 04-28-2009 08:38 AM               

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Originally posted by gliderpilotuk:
...you will never stand a chance of seeing a photo of your locality, unless by chance.

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posted 04-28-2009 08:58 AM               

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Originally posted by Max Q:
Is there any way of telling if the ISS is ever visible from a particular location?

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posted 04-28-2009 11:01 AM               

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Originally posted by Robert Pearlman:
This new NASA site is simply meant to provide a neat, random way to see Earth photography; think of it in relation to the Astronomy Photo of Day, only this is Earth Photo of Moment.

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However, I don't see the relevance of the link to the ISS if the pics aren't live (or at least not 100% ISS-sourced) AND you can't relate to your location. I'd actually like to see what the astro/cosmonauts see when they're passing over my house!

I don't usually surf the net looking for screen-saver type of random images (though I'm sure others do) - and if I did, I may as well just go to Google Earth.

It just seems a missed opportunity to me, lacking any of the interactivity present in the rudely-disparaged "boring old tracking maps".

posted 04-28-2009 11:23 PM               

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Originally posted by jimsz:
Go here: Human Space Flight - Realtime Data

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posted 04-29-2009 12:10 AM            

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Originally posted by hoorenz:
The Russians have these auto refreshing pages (requires Java).

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