New Interactive Map Makes it Easier to Spot the Space Station

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Nov 02, 2016, 06:03 ET

WASHINGTON, Nov. 2, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Nov. 2 marks 16 years of humans living and working continuously aboard the International Space Station, and you can see it from your house. Every day, via NASA's popular Spot the Station tool, more than 300,000 people track the opportunity to connect directly with astronauts in the orbiting laboratory as it circles the Earth. A new map-based feature makes it even easier to make that connection as the station flies overhead.

The International Space Station is seen in this 30 second exposure as it flies over Elkton, Virginia, early in the morning, Saturday, August 1, 2015. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

The easy-to-navigate map lets users type a location directly into the search box, zoom, pan and search the map. Blue pins populate the map, identifying the best sighting opportunities for each location with a 50-miles radius around each pin. Visible to the naked eye, the station is best seen at dawn and dusk, and is the third brightest object in the sky.

Earlier this year, NASA made available a new widget that easily embeds on most websites, making it possible to share the service broadly with an audience hoping to catch a glimpse of the station. Test the widget and find instructions on how to embed it via NASA's website: https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/widget/.

The International Space Station's trajectory passes over more than 90 percent of Earth's population. The service notifies users of passes that are high enough in the sky to be easily visible over trees, buildings and other objects on the horizon. NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston calculates the sighting information several times a week for more than 6,700 locations worldwide.

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SOURCE NASA