Space Station Will Pass Just Off Long Beach Coast Tonight; Here's Viewing Info (Hope For Clear Skies)

(June 25, 2013, updated 8:50 p.m. from initial 7:58 a.m.) -- UPDATE: Long Beach got a VERY bright and clear air view of the Int'l Space station as it passed just off the Long Beach coast tonight between roughly 8:42 and 8:48 p.m.

Cloudy skies earlier in the day gave way to clear skies...and it was one of the clearest pass-bys we've seen.

(7:58 a.m. advisory) -- Recent orbits have taken it nearby, but tonight the International Space Station will pass just off the coast of Long Beach, which MAY provide the L.A.-OC area (and beyond) with a long (6+ minutes) bright view of the spacecraft IF fog and clouds stay away...and the weather is a bit iffy as we publish this advisory.

The Space Station's orbit will take it from NW to SE, reaching an elevation locally of 84 degrees (90 degrees would be directly above).

Image via Heavens-above.com

In Long Beach and nearby, the Space Station should first appear in the NW sky at about 10 degrees above the horizon at (minutes and seconds listed here) 8:42:24 p.m. and will ascend to its its maximum elevation over Long Beach at 8:45:43 p.m. before heading into the southeast sky and out of sight by about 8:48:55 p.m....

Yes, there are real people up there.

Photo source: NASA

NASA.gov says "Commander Pavel Vinogradov and Flight Engineers Chris Cassidy and Alexander Misurkin continue their stay aboard the International Space Station. The trio is scheduled to remain aboard until September 2013. They began their stay when they docked their Soyuz TMA-08M spacecraft to the station on March 28, 2013. Flight Engineers Karen Nyberg, Fyodor Yurchikhin, Luca Parmitano launched to the station on May 28 aboard the Soyuz TMA-09M to round out the six-person Expedition 36 crew. Yurchikhin will become the commander of Expedition 37 once Vinogradov, Cassidy and Misurkin undock in November."

The Space Station will look like a bright, moving star from the ground...but it's actually the giant mass in the photo below.