Hey Du Quoin: an eMail from the space station

While the Du Quoin City Council was in session on Monday, the International Space Station was 200 miles above Du Quoin, circling the earth.

Mrs. Dawson Duncan attended the meeting and knew about it. NASA sent her an eMail. They can send you one, too.

Just go to nasa.gov on the internet, then click on a link in the lower left hand corner that looks like the picture above to sign up.

Did you know you can see the International Space Station from your house? As the third brightest object in the sky, after the sun and moon, the space station is easy to see if you know where and when to look for it.

NASA's Spot the Station service sends you an email or text message a few hours before the space station passes over your house. The space station looks like a fast-moving plane in the sky, though one with people living and working aboard it more than 200 miles above the ground. It is best viewed on clear nights.

Spot the Station is available worldwide to anyone with an email account or SMS-enabled phone. Several times a week, Mission Control at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Tex, determines sighting opportunities for 4,600 locations worldwide. If your specific city or town isn't listed, pick one that is fairly close to you. The space station is visible for a long distance around each of the listed locations.

This service will only notify you of "good" sighting opportunities - that is, sightings that are high enough in the sky (40 degrees or more) and last long enough to give you the best view of the orbiting laboratory.