The International Space Station and NASA’s venerable shuttle Discovery should be visible to residents of the central San Joaquin Valley shortly after 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 8, when they passes over the area.
Dr. Steven White, a physics professor at Fresno State, said clear skies should provide Valley space fans a look at what will appear as a steady light “about as bright as the planet Venus or an airplane” moving slowly across the sky to the southeast beginning about 7:24.
The space station will come into view first, then Discovery, White added. They’ll be visible at a point about 10 degrees above the northwest horizon, moving overhead and into the earth’s shadow and out of sight from the ground. The shuttle is about 220 miles above the earth’s surface.
The transit will take about three minutes, White said.
The shuttle is scheduled to land at the center in Florida at 11:57 a.m. Wednesday, March 9, completing STS-133. If weather is bad in Florida, one of the backup landing sites is Edwards Air Force Base in Kern County. It’s the 39th and final mission for Discovery as the shuttle program is retired after more 30 years.
