My husband Dan is obsessed with the weather; all changes in temperature, cloud formations, barometric pressure, all chances of precipitation, winds, storms… you name it- he can give you an update. He can even give you updates instantly for several locations- where he grew up, where all the kids are, where his siblings live, where his parents retired… Dan and his apps are my go to for weather first information! He also has this handy little app that keeps track of the International Space Station (ISS). Now there’s a weather tracker for you… and he always has access to where it will show up on the horizon next.
That “next” was to be a pretty good viewing of the space station moving over the Kansas horizon, Northwest to Northeast at 8:57 pm last Sunday. So we set out walking about 8:40 to find the best vantage point in our neighborhood; lack of street lights, elevated, no obstructions to our view and away from the houses, so no one would wonder what we were doing standing around with binoculars in an empty cul-de-sac after dark. The weather in fact was perfect. It had been a warm and windy spring day, but at dusk the wind subsided and all that was left was a gentle breeze. Menacing storm clouds were brewing to the Southeast, but our view in the dark was of stars, an almost full moon- accompanied by frog choruses.
At the outskirts of our neighborhood, new home construction has created pockets of low lying areas. After the last 2 weeks of rainy weather, there were several small swampy, moist, froggy areas. As our sneakers crunched through the gravel on asphalt the boisterous chorus would lessen until we had passed by only to begin again as loudly as before. There were the rhythmic small voices and the an eerily deep fermata-ed call, like a choral conductor giving a cue…
And then it was 8:57 and the bright speeding light of the International Space Station appeared and drew our utmost attention. For less than two minutes we could spot the shimmery shiny panels hurling through space; traveling through the lens of my binoculars and even with the naked eye! As mysteriously as it appears on the horizon, it disappears into the deep dark. It is an amazing sight and I always want to know if the folks in the space station are looking as intently back at us.
And they are…monitoring weather patterns, climate changes, storm movement, checking the earth’s environment (they even monitor the water levels around Venice, Italy). It gives us all a connection to something larger than ourselves and our little piece of the world. It changes my perspective every time I see it orbiting at 17,150 mph (almost 5 miles per second).
Quite an atmosphere- endless space accompanied by the earthly amphibian voices on that spring night! Perfect viewing on a perfect evening.. try it yourself sometime: spotthestation.nasa.gov.
lifeongreenheronpond 