Out Of This World Kimchi

On Thursday (July 24), NASA astronaut Jonny Kim, a flight engineer on the space station's Expedition 73 crew, spoke with the 125 participants from 39 countries in the International Space University Space Studies Program held this year in Seoul, South Korea. A medical doctor and a former U.S. Navy SEAL, Kim's parents immigrated from South Korea.

"I had a cargo mission come up that had some of my most favorite foods. So of course I had kimchi brought up. I had gochujang, which is a red pepper paste, and I had rice come up. So with those ingredients, and of course, some Spam, I was able to make my space version of kimchi fried rice. It wasn't as good as I could make at home, on earth, but in space you work with the best you've got, and I really, really enjoyed it," said Kim, after hearing that that the ISU attendees had also been enjoying the local cuisine.

Polezniy*

Astronauts from the International Space Station (ISS) safely returned to earth today.  This tidbit has been floating around on the cesspool of Face Book misinformation.

The truth is easy people. And as AI Technology evolves it might possibly inject thought into social media. Thanks to the ChatGTP and other AI sources it takes only a couple of taps on a device to reveal the facts. 

Besides, do the people that re post these lame and lazy memes understand they're largely regurgitating content served-up by Russian and Communist Red Chinese troll farms?

You’re welcome…..

NASA astronauts Sunita “Suni” Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore returned safely to Earth today, March 18, 2025, after an extended mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Their mission, initially planned for eight days to test Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, was prolonged to over nine months due to technical issues with the Starliner capsule. Consequently, their return was facilitated by SpaceX’s Crew-9 mission, which successfully splashed down off the coast of Florida.    

During their extended stay, political figures, including former President Donald Trump and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, alleged that the Biden administration had neglected efforts to expedite the astronauts’ return. However, these claims have been refuted by NASA officials, who emphasized that the astronauts were safe throughout their mission and that the delays were due to technical challenges rather than political decisions.   

Therefore, the assertion that President Biden abandoned the astronauts is unfounded. The delays in their return were primarily caused by technical issues with the Starliner spacecraft, and NASA ensured the astronauts’ safety and well-being during their extended mission. 

*Translation - Useful Idiot
 

Station Spotting

 

Hosting guests for the weekend. 

 

NASA scheduled a flyover of the ISS for the occasion.

 

There’s a first time for everything.

 

If we’re lucky the northern lights may pay a call….

 

 

Spot The Station

Kinda blurry glare.

Nevertheless, angle was just right to capture the sokar array of the ISS as it sailed over the house tonight.

 

And Even More September Astronomy

Spot The International Space Station!

Time: Wed Sep 25 8:46 PM, Visible: 3 min, Max Height: 56°, Appears: 10° above WNW, Disappears: 56° above WNW

You can even see the ‘wings’ of the solar array…

September Astronomy

Kinda cloudy with ambient light reflection from the moon behind me to the southwest.

Nevertheless, ISS buzzing the house from overhead.

Time: Fri Sep 13 8:37 PM, Visible: 5 min, Max Height: 66°, Appears: 10° above WSW, Disappears: 30° above NE

View Of The Neighborhood

 

 

Rather impressive view of the Great Lakes Region taken from the International Space Station April 25, 2024.

I can see where I live!

 

Night Sky

 

 

International Space Station (ISS) soared directly over the house tonight. 

Click and look for it in the middle of each photo. 

Time: Wed Jul 26 9:36 PM, Visible: 6 min, Max Height: 78°, Appears: 10° above WNW, Disappears: 19° above ESE

 

 

ISS

 

Time: Wed Nov 23 5:02 PM, Visible: 6 min, Max Height: 63°, Appears: 10° above WSW, Disappears: 12° above NE

iPhone 14 Pro captured a boom with a solar array on tonight’s ISS flyover!

 

Edit to add

 

My new device is a really good camera with some communication features and I'm still wrapping my mind around it's photography capabilities.

I had to crank-up the zoom to capture this pic and here are the specs embedded in the photo.  

FWIW - that is the constellation Cassiopeia framed in the background.

 

New moon this evening so the next couple of nights will offer terrific star-gazing opportunities.

 

 

 

Night Sky

From tonight's totally clear sky there was this:

A Super Thunder Moon.....

And the ISS passing directly over the house.... 

Time: Wed Jul 13 10:29 PM, Visible: 7 min, Max Height: 72°, Appears: 10° above WSW, Disappears: 10° above ENE

ISS Spotting

Spot The Station Tonight 

First image is rising above the WNW horizon 

Second image is sailing directly over the house 

 

In both images the International Space Station (ISS) is the brightest object, center image.

Bonus:  The woodcock sky dance has commenced. Will attempt recording the audio as the tempo picks-up

Time: Fri Apr 01 8:15 PM, Visible: 6 min, Max Height: 88°, Appears: 10° above WNW, Disappears: 17° above ESE

 

 

Spot the Station

 

International Space Station paid a call this evening.

Center of the image.

Almost directly over the house!

Time: Thu Sep 30 8:19 PM, Visible: 3 min, Max Height: 67°, Appears: 10° above WNW, Disappears: 67° above N.

Brightest object in this evening's sky....

 

ISS Pays a Call

 

Great viewing tonight as the ISS flew directly over the house. 

Time: Sun May 16 10:03 PM, Visible: 7 min, Max Height: 59°, Appears: 10° above WSW, Disappears: 10° above NE

Spring peepers and whitetail snorts are optional.

Night Skies Bring the ISS

click on image for a closer look

Time: Mon Feb 01 6:05 PM, Visible: 5 min, Max Height: 42°, Appears: 10° above NW, Disappears: 26° above ENE

International Space Station (ISS) flies almost directly over the house. 

Optimal clear,cold, winter skies make it easy peasy.....

 

Spot the Station

While slaving in the kitchen I had to quick duck outside to take this pic.

Time: Sat Jan 23 5:10 PM, Visible: 3 min, Max Height: 60°, Appears: 60° above E, Disappears: 12° above ENE

 

 

There it is directly in the center of the photo.

 

The ISS!

 

In case you missed it - look at how light it is immediately after 5 PM.....

 

ISS

International Space Station (ISS) directly over the house!

Time: Sun Oct 04 7:34 PM, Visible: 3 min, Max Height: 77°, Appears: 33° above WNW, Disappears: 27° above SE

ISS

International Space Station (ISS) sighting this evening. 

Time: Fri Jul 17 9:50 PM, Visible: 6 min, Max Height: 62°, Appears: 10° above WSW, Disappears: 12° above NE

Entry above the west southwest horizon

And buzzed directly over the house.

ISS

International Space Station (ISS) sighting this evening.   

Time: Thu Jul 16 10:38 PM, Visible: 6 min, Max Height: 44°, Appears: 10° above W, Disappears: 10° above NE

Entry above the western horizon

And In the center of this photo is the ISS with the Big Dipper constellation in the background.

Terrific clear summer skies.

Mosquitoes were tolerable.....

Manned Space Flight Comes Home

Space X  is at the cusp of ferrying astronauts to the International Space Station.  The mission - named Demo-2 - will include NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken launched-aboard a Space X Crew Dragon spacecraft.   

A Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to launch at 4:32 p.m. EDT on May 27 from Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.  That's tomorrow folks.

With the retirement of the shuttle program in 2011 NASA has since relied on Russia’s space program to send astronauts to the station.  This launch will mark the official return of manned space flight from American soil.

photo NASA.gov

A public-private initiative, Demo-2 is the final test for Crew Dragon before regularly-scheduled flights resume under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.  Boeing is developing its competing Starliner astronaut taxi and the Boeing spacecraft will fly in NASA’s  second manned mission.

As with all space missions the date/time could change on short notice.  Furthermore the agency is following CDC guidance with regard to this mission while in the midst of the COVID-19 emergency.

So, check your news feeds for confirmation of the mission launch and know that you can watch it live on YouTube.

Frogs From Outer Space

ISS – short for International Space Station - is quite spectacular to observe transecting the night sky.  It is so bright you cannot possibly miss it and truthfully is one of the coolest things to observe.  The hitch is that the navigation across the sky by this satellite is fast.  It appears above the horizon and in a matter of moments crosses overhead and disappears over the opposite horizon.  Furthermore it is unpredictable (relative to stuff like constellations, the moon and planets) so it’s helpful to have advance warning of its arrival and from what direction.  

I use NASA's Spot the Station site which furnishes me dates and times and where to look based on my latitude and longitude.  Alerts are sent hours in-advance by email or text.  

Among several astronomy apps I make use of is Night Sky – an app on my Smartphone.  Available for Apple and Android devices this tool has a significant amount of information on the screen and all I have to do is aim my device in the direction of where I’m viewing and stars, planets, constellations and satellites are usefully arrayed on the screen for ease of identification.  
Last Friday morning brought me this message:  

Time: Fri May 15 11:02 PM, Visible: 6 min, Max Height: 48°, Appears: 10° above W, Disappears: 11° above NE 

And I was ready with my iPhone to see what I could capture.  

I did indeed get a handful of clear photos as the ISS came directly over the house.  So on a whim I thought – what the heck – how about some video.  Resulting in an edited copy here.
   

The video is poor quality with the wobbly track of the ISS as it comes in and out of focus.  Trust me - the station flies a steady orbit.  My results are a consequence of not using a tripod or other stationary platform to keep the device steady.  

So let’s agree that it is a crappy video production.  Nevertheless, the soundtrack is quite spectacular with the chorus frogs whooping it up in the background.  That is a delight to the ears.   

I've been meaning to record the frog chorus and now it's done.  Goes to show that sometimes you benefit from the law of unintended consequences.