The International Space Station Will Be Visible Over the Hudson Valley Soon

NASA recently announced that the International Space Station will be decommissioned in 2031, as the largest human-made object to fly in space will come crashing down in the Pacific Ocean.. It will be an end of a long journey for the spacecraft that began all the way back in 1998, and went into full operation by November 2, 2000. But in the meantime, the flight continues and soon the I.S.S. will be once again be seen over the skies of the Hudson Valley.

AccuWeather says that the giant laboratory is currently 250 miles above the Earth, traveling at 17,500 mph. The craft can be seen from Earth as a solid white dot that moves through the sky without the flashing you'd see from a regular commercial plane. Whether you see the space station depends on orbit and the weather in your area.

NASA has a Spot the Space Station website, where you punch in your location and see the times when the craft will be visible. if you're in Poughkeepsie, you might want to be up extra ealry in the morning. The next time you'll see it above the Hudson Valley will be Saturday, February 19, at 5:40 AM. it will be visible for 4 minutes at maximum height of 44 degrees. If you can't see it Saturday, there will be other times over the coming week to witness the I.S.S.

Sunday at 5:40 AM, Monday at 4:08 and 5:41 AM, and Tuesday at 4:55 AM.

Visibility and height will slightly vary by location in the area, though not by much.

The space station, which is the length of a football field, is a collaboration between the  United States, Canada, Russia Japan, and Europe. Wikipedia says that the station serves as a microgravity and space environment research laboratory in which scientific research is conducted in astrobiology, astronomy, meteorology, physics, and other fields.