ISS pass

STUARTATK@aol.com
Sun, 7 Feb 1999 01:48:41 EST

I know postings to the list are usually quite technical, but I've just arrived
back inside after watching a quite beautiful 50 deg alt pass of ISS from here
in the north of England and wanted to share the experience and maybe get some
other people to let me know if they feel the same way... if this is too wordy
for the List and off-topic then my apologies in advance.

My prime observing site is on a high grass bank overlooking a fast-flowing
river, and because temperatures never cleared zero through the night
everything - the grass, the bench, the drinking fountain - was covered in
frost, glittering in the strong moonlight as I took up position and waited...
ISS appeared right on time, 06.12, zero magnitude, icy blue, and sliced
through the sky in a graceful arc above the Moon, which is less than a
finger's width away from Mars right now... and watching the pass, listening to
a classical music station on my Walkman, two things struck me...

Firstly, it was very inspiring to see our three next Most Logical Steps in
space exploration framed together so neatly - the Space Station, above the
Moon, itself above Mars, like a "destiny ladder" in the pre-dawn sky...

... but most of all, it struck me how lonely and forlorn ISS looked as it
sailed eastwards. The first time I saw it my pulse literally raced, it was
thrilling, awe-inspiring... it looked bright and proud and defiant... *that*
star was going to grow and grow into our beachead in space, it was going to
become our Gateway to the solar system... ! But this morning, less than half
an hour ago, I watched it sail across my sky again and somehow it felt...
different. It looked really quite lonely up there, and I felt, from somewhere,
a sadness welling up inside me. 

Maybe it was all the recent news reports of Russian launch delays and NASA
budget battles churning over in my mind... maybe it was the fact that I was
listening to Barber's Adagio (not the most cheerful piece of music ever
written!) in my headphones as the station arced above the Moon, I don't know.
All I know is that I watched it flying past and couldn't help wondering if one
day in a few years' time I'd be standing in the same spot, above the same
river, watching the uncompleted station re-entering in a blaze of lost
glory... I know that's very unlikely to happen, but it moved me, and I was
just wondering if anyone else has had any similarly unscientific
experiences...

Oh, and as an amateur astronomer frustrated for years by light pollution I
have only one thing to say about Znamya: hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!
:-)

 - Stu

Cockermouth, UK: N 54 47   W 03 20