NASA floats app as your ticket to track International Space Station in real time

International Space Station with Earth in the background (Image Courtesy NASA)

NASA has launched the 'Spot the Station' mobile app, now accessible for download on both iOS and Android platforms to make it easier for the common people to spot the International Space Station (ISS) as it passes over Earth.

Spotting the Space Station in real-time

The 'Spot the Station' mobile app has been designed to alert users when the space station becomes visible overhead from their specific location, as per NASA. According to the American Space Agency, the mobile app expands on the functionalities of the agency’s 'Spot the Station' on website, offering additional information to enrich the station spotting experience for the general public. With the 'Spot the Station' mobile app, users can track when the station will be visible and learn how to locate it.

According to information provided by NASA, the app is equipped with several useful features, such as 2D and 3D real-time station location views, forthcoming sighting schedules with visibility details, an Augmented Reality (AR) mode with compass and trajectory lines integrated into the camera view, current NASA space station resources and blogs, privacy settings, and push notifications alerting users when the station is approaching their area.

ISS racing at 28,000 km per hour

Observing the ISS as it moves across the Earth can be a breathtaking experience, considering it travels through space at an astonishing speed of 28,000 km per hour (or 17,500 miles per hour).

Exciting 23 years of continuous human presence

“Even after 23 years of continuous human presence aboard the International Space Station, it’s incredibly exciting to see the station when you look up at just the right moment,” said Robyn Gatens, International Space Station director at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “The orbiting laboratory that continues to provide so many unique, tangible benefits for humanity really isn’t that far out of reach.”

Space Station sightings based on darkness in your area

The Space Station, unlike the Moon, looks like an airplane or a very bright star moving across the sky, but isn't bright enough to be seen during daylight hours. It is only visible during dawn or dusk at a specific location. Therefore, as per information on the NASA website, sighting opportunities can vary from once a month to several times a week, depending on the darkness of the area where you are, and the space station has to happen to be going overhead.

The International Space Station: An overview

The International Space Station (ISS), approved by President Reagan in 1984 and developed between 1984 and 1993, with elements constructed across the US, Canada, Japan, and Europe in the late 1980s, is operated by five partner agencies: the Canadian Space Agency, the European Space Agency, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, NASA, and the Russian Space Agency Roscosmos, each responsible for managing and controlling the hardware it contributes.

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The ISS, vast platform equivalent in size to a football field, weighing over 400,000 kg (900,000 lbs), with structure measuring 109 m (358 ft) (across arrays) by 51 m (168 ft), serves as a hub for scientific research in space, physical, Earth, and biological sciences for the benefits of people living on our home planet, and serves as a primary laboratory for technology development, supporting human and robotic exploration beyond low Earth orbit, including missions to the Moon and Mars.

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The ISS program coordinates international flight crews, launch vehicles, flight operations, training, engineering, communication networks, and the international scientific research community. Research aboard the orbiting laboratory holds benefits for life back on Earth, as well as for future space exploration. The space station allows to study the impacts of long-term spaceflight to humans, supporting NASA's mission to push human presence farther into space.