Int'l Space Stn Will Be Visible Passing Nearly Directly Over Long Beach Tonight (June 16); Here Are Time / Details / Orbit Map

LBReport.com

Advisory

UPDATE: Did You See It? Long Beach Got Beautiful, Bright View As Int'l Space Stn Passed Nearly Directly Over Long Beach

LBREPORT.com is reader and advertiser supported. Support independent news in LB similar to the way people support NPR and PBS stations. We're not non-profit so it's not tax deductible but $49.95 (less than an annual dollar a week) helps keep us online.

(June 16, 2016, 9:10 p.m.) -- Did you see it? Long Beach got a beautiful -- and bright -- view of the International Space Station as it passed nearly directly over Long Beach. Details (from our advisory) below.

(June 16, 2016, 9:30 a.m.) -- If (stress "if") it stays clear, Long Beach will have an exceptionally good chance to see the International Space Station as its orbit takes it nearly exactly over the L.A.-LB-OC area tonight between 8:53 p.m. and 8:59 p.m. If it stays clear until until 9 p.m. we should get a good view. (The National Weather Service forcasts "patchy fog" after 11 p.m.)

The spacecraft will rise in the NW sky at about 8:53:10 p.m., reach an elevation of 86 degrees (90 degrees would be directly overhead) at 8:56:27 and then head into the SE sky, disappearing by 8:59:02 p.m.

Below is a map showing its trajectory on this orbit.

[Scroll down for further.]

Image via Heavens-Above.com

It's a 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