Track satellites anywhere in the world with NASA Flybys

William Atkins
Saturday, 17 May 2008 02:17

Science - Space

NASA has announced that it now has available a Global Satellite Tracker system for anyone anywhere in the world to use. It’s as easy to use as going to SpaceWeather.com.


The website Spaceweather.com has a new global satellite tracking system available to all people all over the world, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe.

All you need is an Internet access.

Then, just go to http://spaceweather.com/, and click on the “Satellite Flybys” link at the right side of the page.

Want to save a step? Go directly to: http://spaceweather.com/flybys.

If you are in the United States or Canada, all you have to do, then, is input your zip code.

If you are located anywhere else, just click on “Global Flybys,” and then select your Country, State, and City.

The NASA Satellite Tracker will tell you what specific sightings of satellites will occur over the next two-week period.

For instance, I submitted Country: The Bahamas; State: Freeport; and City: Pine Ridge. (I’m not there right now, but would sure like to be!)

If I’m at this location, I could see the Hubble Space Telescope going over from 4:50:40 to 4:54:58 a.m. in the western sky on May 16, 2008. If in the Bahamas over the next two weeks, I would have other views of the Hubble Space Telescope, along with night-time sightings of the Genesis I and Genesis II satellites and the International Space Station.

If you didn’t know, Genesis I and II are two experimental space habitats (prototype “space hotels”) designed and built by the private U.S. space technology company Bigelow Aerospace, headquartered in North Las Vegas, Nevada, and launched in 2006 and 2007, respectively.

Please remember: NASA’s space shuttle Discovery and its STS-124 crew are scheduled to launch on Saturday, May 31, 2008. You will be able to find out when to see both the space shuttle and the space station go over in tandem with the use of the new NASA Global Satellite Tracker.

Have a Great Time hunting for satellites over your local night-time sky!