The space shuttle Endeavour, with seven astronauts on board, will be visible in Ireland tonight.
The shuttle will be visible as a brilliant “star” when it crosses Ireland at about 11.21pm tonight, 18 minutes after it blasts off from Florida.
“We are predicting the best time to watch will be 11.21pm tonight, but people should watch for 10 minutes around this time as the launch time can be changed by NASA at the last minute” said David Moore of Astronomy Ireland.
“The shuttle is an incredible sight when it flies over, but what makes this event so incredibly rare, is that the giant fuel tank will be right next to the shuttle in the sky and will look distinctly orange.”
“This has only been seen once before from Ireland in the 28 year history of shuttle launches so we want everyone to stay up and watch it,” he added.
The shuttle is heading for the International Space Station which will also be visible from Ireland on Thursday and Friday nights. Built at a cost of €100 billion, it is up to 1000 times brighter than the average star.
The shuttle will be visible as a brilliant “star” when it crosses Ireland at about 11.21pm tonight, 18 minutes after it blasts off from Florida.
“We are predicting the best time to watch will be 11.21pm tonight, but people should watch for 10 minutes around this time as the launch time can be changed by NASA at the last minute” said David Moore of Astronomy Ireland.
“The shuttle is an incredible sight when it flies over, but what makes this event so incredibly rare, is that the giant fuel tank will be right next to the shuttle in the sky and will look distinctly orange.”
“This has only been seen once before from Ireland in the 28 year history of shuttle launches so we want everyone to stay up and watch it,” he added.
The shuttle is heading for the International Space Station which will also be visible from Ireland on Thursday and Friday nights. Built at a cost of €100 billion, it is up to 1000 times brighter than the average star.
