See Int'l Space Station Speed Overhead Early Tonite

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UPDATE To Advisory

Did You See It? LBREPORT.com Readers Knew Int'l Space Station Was Coming Overhead And Got Great Clear Sky View As Spacecraft Soared Over Long Beach

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(Feb. 19, 2015, 7:45 p.m.) -- Did you see it? LBREPORT.com readers knew it was coming and saw the International Space Station soar over Long Beach for about six minutes at about 7:00 p.m. tonight.

Photo below is clear sky view from East Long Beach. Spacecraft is framed by two stars (one in above left, the other above right) and moon to left. Photo is by Max Pearl.

[Scroll down for further.]

Int'l Space Station over Long Beach, CA, framed by two stars (above to its left and right) with moon in upper left. Photo credit: Max Pearl

Below is LBREPORT.com's advisory (includes details) from earlier today. Remember: With LBREPORT.com, you don't miss a thing.

(Feb. 19, 2016, 8:45 a.m.) -- IF skies stay clear, Long Beach (and L.A. and OC areas) may get a good view of the International Space Station as the giant spacecraft speeds overhead at early evening tonight, Fri. Feb. 19 (map below.)

Heavens-Above.com says the Space Station, traveling at roughly 17,200 mph, is expected to come visible (about 10 degrees above the horizon) in the NW sky at 6:57:49 p.m....and will then rise to an elevation of 76 degrees (ninety degrees would be straight up) at 7:01:04 before heading into the SW sky and disappearing at about 7:02:09 p.m.

As of Friday morning, the Nat'l Weather Service predicts "mostly clear" skies...and if that holds up, the spacecraft should be fairly bright as it speeds past our coast.
Image via Heavens-Above.com

To give one a rough idea of its speed, the Int'l Space Station will first become visible here when it's (very rough estimate) off the CA coast roughly between Redding, CA and the Oregon border and will disappear when it reaches nearly the southern tip of Baja Mexico, all within a little over six minutes.

It's a great (free) teachable moment for the kidlets and an amazing sight at any age. (Tip: Share this article with your Facebook friends; they'll appreciate it; click button:

The photo below shows the basics of the giant spacecraft. It has a mass of roughly 990,000 lbs.

Image via NASA.gov

And the photo below shows its current configuration:

Image via NASA.gov

And here are facts and figures about the International Space Station.

And yes there are real people aboard. They are (from left) Commander Scott Kelly and Flight Engineers Mikhail Kornienko, Sergey Volkov, Timothy Peake, Timothy Kopra and Yuri Malenchenko.

Photographer: Robert Markowitz. Photo via NASA.gov