Monday, July 18, 2011



Last chance to see

Atlantis is undocking from the ISS tomorrow, and coming home on Wednesday, ending the final mission of the space shuttle programme. So, its the last chance to see. Fortunately, it will be passing over New Zealand this evening, at around quarter past seven. The exact time and orientation will depend on where you are:

CityMagnitudeStartAltDirectionEndAlt
Auckland-2.319:17:5010NW19:20:0944
Palmerston North-1.419:18:3710NW19:20:0925
Wellington-1.319:18:4310NW19:20:0923
Christchurch (good luck)-1.019:19:0410NW19:20:0917

If you're somewhere else, you'll need to go somewhere like Heavens Above and plug in your ICBM address so it can calculate it. Alternatively, you could just go outside at around 19:15, and look for the really bright moving star in the north-west. It will be very obvious, and you won't be able to miss it.

Unless, of course, its cloudy.