Middle school students see the view from the International Space Station

Baldwin-Whitehall SD’s Harrison Middle School was selected to receive an ISS-ABOVE package funded by CASIS (Center for the Advancement of Science in Space). The ISS-ABOVE is a single-board computer with a program that calculates where the International Space Station is at all times. It can be hooked up to a TV and displays screens with information that show where the ISS is and when it can be seen. At certain times of day (around dawn and dusk) the ISS looks like a very bright star moving steadily across the sky for 6-10 minutes. Nothing creates wonder like the video of Earth from the external cameras on the International Space Station. From 250 miles up, it’s quite a view and it’s busy up there. The “daytime” for the ISS crew is 46 minutes (followed by 46 minutes of darkness). Sometimes the moon can be seen rising and setting. The supply vehicles (Russian Progress, Japanese HTV, USA SpaceX Dragon, and USA Orbital Sciences Cygnus) dock and undock. The grant also provides lessons to integrate ISS-Above into the classroom and curriculum. More information on ISS-ABOVE can be found at http://www.issabove.com/