An executive at work today was visiting in the rows of agents and mentioned that she’s acquainted with the commander of the current Space Shuttle mission, Col. Lee Archambault. Discovery is currently docked with the International Space Station. She also mentioned that she’d watched the combined orbital craft cross the sky overhead last night, and that it would make the transit over our area at about 734pm tonight, too. And she was right:
Human Space Flight (HSF) – Sightings
***** Schaumburg *****
SAT DATE/TIME Duration/Degrees Elevation/From/Towards
ISS Thu Mar 19/07:34 PM 3 39 36 above NW 11 above NE
ISS Thu Mar 19/09:10 PM 1 14 12 above NW 14 above NNW
ISS Fri Mar 20/08:01 PM 3 19 17 above NW 10 above NNE
ISS Sat Mar 21/08:29 PM 3 13 11 above NNW 10 above NNE
ISS Sun Mar 22/08:56 PM 1 12 10 above NNW 12 above N
ISS Mon Mar 23/07:47 PM 3 13 10 above NW 10 above NNE…
Sorry, can’t make true columns without getting really frustrated and flailing helplessly. But I saw something that started fairly high in the northwest sky and angled upwards toward the northeast that was small, not blinking, very bright, and moving fast in a very straight line.
The small bat that had become attached to the foam that shields the external fuel tanks is thought to have perished during the liftoff, as wildlife experts concluded it was badly injured and wouldn’t survive a rescue if the launch was delayed. So its final flight was probably spent going out in a blaze of glory. Who knows? As ***Dave notes, “Go, Spacebat, go!”
