Can You Spot the International Space Station? NASA Has a Spot the Station Locator Site – December 2, 2019

I stumbled across this link, https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/, several days ago. You can type in your location to determine if you can spot the International Space Station (ISS) from your area. You can sign up for e-mail notifications of when it will be visible in your area, usually near dusk or dawn. If your city isn’t listed, check for cities and towns nearby as it’s visible for around 50 miles (80 km) from the listed locations. I checked Wichita, Kansas – https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/sightings/view.cfm?country=United_States&region=Kansas&city=Wichita#.XeW2ZNVMGM9 and starting December 5, it will be visible 1 – 2 times per night through December 11. Time visible ranges from less than 1 minute to 6 minutes during those evenings. Here’s the FAQs: https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/faq.cfm.

If I remember, I will try and see if I can find it sometime during the times it passes nearby during the week. If not, I will try again the next time it’s in the area. Doubt I can get a photo or video, but if someone does, I would be interested in seeing it. It’s moving very fast, a lot faster than a plane. That’s an impressive number of sunrises and sunsets every day.

How fast is the space station travelling?

The ISS circles the Earth every 90 minutes. It travels at about 17,500 miles (28,000 km) per hour, which gives the crew 16 sunrises and sunsets every day. In the more than 15 years that people have been living onboard, the Station has circumnavigated the Earth tens of thousands of times. You can see more facts about the ISS on the Space Station: Facts and Figures webpage.

Here are a few websites to help you figure out when, where, and how to view the ISS:

https://www.universetoday.com/93584/beginners-guide-to-seeing-the-the-international-space-station-iss/

https://earthsky.org/human-world/how-to-spot-the-international-space-station

https://www.space.com/34650-track-astronauts-space-new-interactive-map.html

Mobile apps or do a search on your cellphone for ISS tracking or spotter apps, many are free and I only saw a small number that required payment:

https://www.space.com/32387-satellite-space-station-skywatching-mobile-apps.html