"Across the Universe" - Beatles, 1969

Here's a huge thank you to my brother-in-law for the heads up (no pun intended, either) that the combination of the International Space Station and the shuttle Atlantis can currently be seen in orbit over Britain just after 6:30pm UK time. John went outside to see it last night...taking great care not to tilt his neck back too far, of course. And tonight, I went outside with him.

What an amazing thing to see an object roughly 200 miles above the earth! And how incredibly fast it comes over and then disappears into the shadows, once it's no longer illuminated by the sun!

I remember once, on a clear night, seeing a shuttle on its own passing above while I still lived in Houston. But this was much larger and brighter. How I wish we had a telescope!

If you'd like to see when you might have a chance to see the combination of the two spacecraft for yourself, there are two websites which will help:

NASA's "ISS Sightings" section at http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/sightings/
and
"Heavens Above" at http://heavens-above.com/

It's an experience not to be missed!

Thanks again, Paul!

Janet