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