ATV-4 docked (tracking)

[nothke]

Watch ATV-4 Operations

If you are interested here is a tracker of both ISS and ATV on one map with trajectories

LINK

and here is a 3d tracker, but it can't show 2 ships at the same time if you don't log in (even if you do, it shows both ships, but only one trajectory)

almost like trying to rendezvous on KSP map.. just without time warp =(

Edited June 16, 2013 by nothke

[astropapi1]

Thanks!

[Lexif]

I just saw it zip over Germany about an hour ago, it's well visible. I also took some pics yesterday. Currently, it's 15 minutes after the ISS. The docking will be in the afternoon here, but it should be visible the night before together with the ISS. Fingers crossed for good weather!

[Nimelrian]

Just saw it as well, thanks to your tracker (Germany). Saw the ISS pass at 23:40, then the one at 01:19 and now the ATV-4 pass at 1:37.

ISS was really bright, didn't get a look as good as these in the last months. ATV was hard to spot, much less visible.

[Tommygun]

Didn't realize the station's obit was that inclined.

I guess it makes sense when most of the parts are coming from the US and Europe.

I would imaging it would also be more useful for Earth science studies too, as more of the Earth is passed over.

Edited June 8, 2013 by Tommygun

[Lexif]

Didn't realize the station's obit was that inclined.

I guess it makes sense when most of the parts are coming from the US and Europe.

Baikonour is in Asia, not in Europe. But yeah, Baikonour is at 45.6°N. The ISS has an orbit inclination of 51.4°, which should provide some padding for launches. ATV gets launched from Kourou at 5.2°N. But I guess that earth observation also was considered when choosing the orbit for the ISS. Most important population centers should be visible from that orbit.

Edit: got ninja'd by your edit, Tommygun.

[Rune]

Didn't realize the station's obit was that inclined.

I guess it makes sense when most of the parts are coming from the US and Europe.

I would imaging it would also be more useful for Earth science studies too, as more of the Earth is passed over.

It's actually so that the russkies can reach it. Kennedy and Kourou are very close to the equator, therefore easier to get to equatorial orbit from them. Russia, on the other hand, only has access to launch sites that are farther to the north, hence the orbit of the station, a compromise so the Soyuzes and Protons could be used with decent payload, while still keeping it in reach of the shuttle.

Rune. The more you know...

[Lexif]

Kennedy and Kourou are very close to the equator, therefore easier to get to equatorial orbit from them.

Well, Kennedy Space Center is at 28.6°N, so it's closer in latitude to Baikonour than to Kourou -- or more or less in between if you're not nitpicking.

Edited June 8, 2013 by Lexif
typo

[Rune]

Well, Kennedy Space Center is at 28.6°N, so it's closer in latitude to Baikonour than to Kourou -- or more or less in between to if you're not nitpicking.

I stand corrected. I should have said "closer" instead of "very close". But if we get picky about it, perfectly equatorial orbits are undesirable around Earth because they are not stable in the first place.

[nothke]

Didn't realize the station's obit was that inclined.

I guess it makes sense when most of the parts are coming from the US and Europe.

I would imaging it would also be more useful for Earth science studies too, as more of the Earth is passed over.

ISS has 51 degree inclination cause it is the lowest to which the Russians can launch from Baikonur. Although Baikonur's lattitude is 45.6, Russians raise inclination to 51.6 to avoid boosters from dropping into China. Of course, that gives station the benefit of covering practically 75% of the planet, or 95% of the inhabitated lands.

EDIT: Woah, I got quadruple ninja'd!

[Lexif]

Haha, yes, I forgot a at the end. Anyway, we are really well off with our launch site in KSP. I hope you all enjoy viewing all those great spacecraft fly over.

[Lexif]

Russians raise inclination to 51.6 to avoid boosters from dropping into China.

Ah, that's interesting. Thanks.

[Alikor]

Saw the ISS fly over Northern Italy at 02:59. Bright and shiny at 80 deg over my head ! As a tax-payer of a participating country, it always makes me proud to think that with my work i actually contributed to build a teeny-tiny part of it. Besides, the Tranquility node to which the Cupola is attached was built in my home city, Turin

[Nibb31]

Not only Tranquility... Node 2 and Columbus were also built by Alenia in Turin, as well as the three MPLM modules, the Cupola, and the ATV pressurized hulls. Chances are that when NASA builds the Deep Space Habitat, a large part of it will be built in Italy.

[nothke]

Saw the ISS fly over Northern Italy at 02:59. Bright and shiny at 80 deg over my head ! As a tax-payer of a participating country, it always makes me proud to think that with my work i actually contributed to build a teeny-tiny part of it. Besides, the Tranquility node to which the Cupola is attached was built in my home city, Turin

Besides all this, Luca is up there now =)

[deadshot462]

Speaking of the ISS inclination, I tend to mimic that inclination on Kerbin with any new space station I do. The views are really nice and it gives a nice challenge when trying to send a rocket/shuttle to dock to it within a couple of orbits

[nothke]

Speaking of the ISS inclination, I tend to mimic that inclination on Kerbin with any new space station I do. The views are really nice and it gives a nice challenge when trying to send a rocket/shuttle to dock to it within a couple of orbits

Yeah me too, I usually make Kerbin experimental stations to 45 degree or higher, than it's cool that you have "launch windows" and you need to manage to launch when the track goes over KSC, also you need more fuel for slight inclination changes.. And especially when landing space planes it's a lot more complicated. It's just a bit more challenging overall. But for refueling stations for Mun or beyond bound spacecraft, I always use equatorial of course.

[nothke]

Woah, I just saw ISS fly over Serbia, my first sighting!

I wasn't sure if it was an airplane or ISS, it just looked like a star moving across the sky and it was reeeeaaaaly bright. Then at the end it just gradually went dark and I was sure it was ISS setting in the shadow. I was waiting for ATV, but it didn't appear, I guess it is just too small..

I will take a camera on a tripod tomorrow and keep the shutter open when they arrive =)

Edited June 9, 2013 by nothke

[Lexif]

Woah, I just saw ISS fly over Serbia, my first sighting!

I wasn't sure if it was an airplane or ISS, it just looked like a star moving across the sky and it was reeeeaaaaly bright. Then at the end it just gradually went dark and I was sure it was ISS setting in the shadow. I was waiting for ATV, but it didn't appear, I guess it is just so small..

I thought the ATV was very well visible, but not as eyecatching as the ISS. Here are two shots from Thursday for comparison.

http://imgur.com/a/aqLcZ

You can see two bright stars above the trees in the lower left corner, the left one ist actually Saturn. The ATV looks a bit darker than reality in the comparison, as it's faster moving because of the lower orbit. So it spends less time on a pixel than the ISS. Both shots are 30 s exposures at 13 mm focal length (APS-C, like 21 mm on 35 mm film).

A tip: If it doesn't blink, it's propably not a plane but a sat. In the summer (with the sun low below the horizon) and under a dark sky, you can see many very faint ones every few minutes, but they are easy to miss. It's like thinking: "Hey, did that faint star suddenly move?"

[Nibb31]

This is what you can see with a really good telescope:

Note that the ISS is moving fast, so ideally you need a motorized head on the telescope.

If you have an Android phone, you can get ISS Tracker, which you can point to the sky and it will show you where the ISS is.

[nothke]

Wow, your photos are amazing. It's the first time we have good weather without clouds, so I'll see what I can do tonight, it's my first try and at least we can take photos of ISS every day xD It's not like it's a one time event =)

ATV looks very faint in the Lexif's photo, I am sure I didn't see it cause there was too much light around. I'll try to go to a meadow further from city lights tonight.

BTW that telescope photo is... Mother of God. It looks like some tiny crab like-insect under a microscope xD Radiators are legs, Soyuz is an eye, solar panels are antennae, the truss is the skeleton/backbone/carapace, the pressurised modules are the mouth, and the Shuttle is.. well... FOOD xD

Edited June 9, 2013 by nothke

[deadshot462]

It would be awesome if you could see satellite reflections from Kerbin during dawn/dusk. I know objects aren't rendered in those distances, but maybe a fake point in the sky to simulate an actual satellite.

I remember this was possible in 0.13 since objects remained loaded.

[Lexif]

It would be awesome if you could see satellite reflections from Kerbin during dawn/dusk. I know objects aren't rendered in those distances, but maybe a fake point in the sky to simulate an actual satellite.

It would be cool if there could be just a bright pixel, with brightness based on shadow/daylight sate and maybe partcount or size.

[Kerbal01]

The icon it uses for the ATV is the SpaceX dragon, weird!

[nothke]

It would be cool if there could be just a bright pixel, with brightness based on shadow/daylight sate and maybe partcount or size.

Yeah, it could be done with just one billboarded particle quad that looks like a star, and the size of it would correspond to the size of the ship. Some small satellites would be so small to be less than a pixel wide from the ground, but some big stations would be more visible. The brightness would change according to the sun exposure.

I have always wanted to see how my ships look from different perspective. It's so bad that we don't even have ground launch tracking cameras or such like those shots we see on TV. Well yes there are remote cameras in Lazor mod but it's very buggy and I don't like it.