Got plans for 8:47 PM this evening? If not, plan to be outside watching the International Space Station zoom by! You won’t regret it.

If the sky is clear or mostly clear and you don't have anything else specially planned, take a 5 minute break from watching TV and go outside to witness the I.S.S. zoom by.

If you have never seen it, you really SHOULD. It's like watching a very bright star crossing the sky. There are 7 humans aboard right now, 4 from the USA, 2 from Russia, one from Japan. Shannon Walker has been up there for 142 days on this mission, so far! Learn more about who's up there by checking https://www.howmanypeopleareinspacerightnow.com/

Go outside and find a place where you can see the sky, especially the northwest sky and southeast sky. Tonight at 13 minutes before 9, the ISS will appear in the NW sky about 10 degrees above the horizon. It will then cross straight overhead, from NW to SE, disappearing when it reaches about 30 degrees above the southeast horizon of the sky.

It's going 4.6 miles per second. That's about 17,150 MPH. Imagine that. The astronauts on the ISS see the sun rise 16 times a day. That seems like it would make it a challange to have a normal sleep cycle, right?

Anyway, get out there tonight if the sky is fairly clear, and call someone you know that lives way across town (but somewhere in the Houston/Galveston area) and have them watch it while you're on the phone with them. It's a unique experience to be on the phone with someone 30 miles away, and to have both of you watching the same event!

Visible: 5 min, Max Height: 87°, Appears: 10° above NW, Disappears: 30° above SE

Edit/Update: There are a few good apps for smart phones that make it very easy to see where & when you can watch a flyover of the ISS. ISS Detector works great. The web site https://james.darpinian.com/satellites/ provides a nice interface and simulation of what you'll see from the Google Street View perspective, which can be helpful to get you properly oriented for an upcoming viewing.

You can set up notifications via SpotTheStation web site.