Space is cool

I totally saw the International Space Station and the space shuttle Atlantis last night! It was awesome! Why was it awesome?! I don’t know!

Okay, I’ll stop talking in exclamation points now. But yeah, the weather guy on the news yesterday was like, hey, you can totally see the space station and the shuttle tonight if you look 25 degrees above the western horizon at 10:35. And I was sort of pessimistic about it, because 25 degrees is pretty low, and I live in an area with a lot of clutter—houses, big trees, power lines, etc. I toyed with the idea of walking the two blocks over to the bluff, where I’d be free of the clutter, but I figured the West Hills across the river might still be too high. Plus I’d just come back from band practice and I was tired.

Anyway, I was finishing a cup of green tea and thinking about getting ready for bed when I glanced at the clock and saw that it was exactly 10:35. Just for the hell of it, I stepped outside onto the porch and looked toward the west. It being so close to the summer solstice there was still some lingering daylight, so I couldn't see any stars, although Venus was huge and bright, not far from the waxing crescent moon. Then, as if on cue, two tiny but brilliant lights came streaking into my line of sight. Dudes, they were bookin’. Apparently they travel at like 16,000 miles per hour? Damn. That’s fast.

I have no idea how far apart they were, but they were on the exact same trajectory at the exact same speed. It was a really cool thing to see. In just a few seconds they disappeared behind the trees, and I ran down the block to get a better view. I managed to catch sight of them again, moving toward what appeared to be the south-southeast. And then they were gone.

I didn't quite get goosebumps like I did when I saw Comet Hale-Bopp in '97, or the partial solar eclipse in the Northeast a few years before that, but it was still one of the coolest things I've seen in the sky. If you’re interested in trying to see them (or I guess just the space station when the shuttle’s not up there) NASA has a webpage where you can find out the dates and times to look.