ISS visible over most of U.S. during holidays

Allard Beutel
Headquarters, Washington Dec. 21, 2004
(Phone: 202/358-4769)

James Hartsfield
Johnson Space Center, Houston
(Phone: 281/483-5111)

RELEASE: 04-406

SPACE STATION VISIBLE OVER MOST OF U.S. DURING HOLIDAYS

Santa will have company in the sky over most of the
United States this holiday season. The International Space
Station is visible in the early morning, flying by at five
miles a second. Information about how, when and where to see
it is available on the Internet at:

http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/isssightings

All sightings available from U.S. cities during the holidays
are pre-dawn sightings. The Station is not expected to be
visible in the evenings.

The 200-ton plus Station, which is more than 170 feet long
and 240 feet wide, will be visible from most continental U.S.
cities, as well as Juneau, Alaska, on various days between
Christmas Eve and New Year's Day. The Station's crew,
Expedition 10 Commander Leroy Chiao and Flight Engineer
Salizhan Sharipov, will celebrate the holidays aboard the
orbiting research complex this year.

Chiao and Sharipov will get a special delivery on Dec. 25 as
a Russian cargo spacecraft docks with the Station. The cargo
ship will bring 5,000 pounds of supplies, including food,
water, fuel, spare equipment and Christmas presents from
home.

For those areas with opportunities to view the Station on
Christmas Eve and Christmas Day mornings, the Progress cargo
spacecraft also may be visible as it closes in on the
Station. The Progress is scheduled to dock with the
International Space Station about 7:05 p.m. EST. The docking
will be carried live on NASA TV. Holiday greetings from the
Station crew, video of Mission Control's season's greetings
and footage of Mission Control tracking Santa Claus also are
airing daily on NASA TV.


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NASA TV is available on the Web and via satellite in the
continental U.S. on AMC-6, Transponder 9C, C-Band, at 72
degrees west longitude. The frequency is 3880.0 MHz.
Polarization is vertical, and audio is monaural at 6.80 MHz.
In Alaska and Hawaii, NASA TV is available on AMC-7,
Transponder 18C, C-Band, at 137 degrees west longitude. The
frequency is 4060.0 MHz. Polarization is vertical, and audio
is monaural at 6.80 MHz.

For information about NASA TV and to view it on the Internet,
visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

Chiao and Sharipov are a third of the way through a six-month
stay conducting research aboard the complex. Research aboard
the Station helps people learn how to live and work for long
periods in space. That information is a crucial step in
realizing the Vision for Space Exploration, which in the
years ahead will return humans to the moon and see them
journey to Mars and beyond.

For more information about the Expedition 10 crew, visit:

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov

For more information about NASA and other agency programs on
the Web, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov


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Jacques :-)

www.spacepatches.info