You might be able to see the SpaceX Dragon capsule in the night sky on Saturday March 2, but only if you're in the right spot.
Both the capsule and the International Space Station will be visible as two separate bright objects. You will only be able to see them, however, if you live south of the equator, which counts out those in the United States, Canada and Europe.
As of Saturday morning, the Dragon capsule was ahead of the Station by around seven minutes, moving in an orbit about eight miles below it. By Saturday evening and Sunday morning, this will change to a lead of only about one to three minutes. This could make it possible to see both vehicles at the same time.
The International Space Station is the brightest man-made object to orbit Earth. The SpaceX Dragon capsule, however, is much smaller and measures only about 14.4 feet in height and 12 feet in diameter. The capsule may appear as 1,500 times dimmer than the Station.
If you'd like to find where and when to view the objects, information is available on the following three websites:
Chris Peat's Heavens Above (heavens-above.com)
Spaceweather.com (www.spaceweather.com)
The Space X Dragon capsule is carrying over 2,300 pounds of cargo to the International Space Station. It launched on Friday March 1 as part of a 12-mission contract with NASA. The launch did not go without error, however, as three of four thruster pods went out. SpaceX founder Elon Musk posted about the glitch on Twitter. The problem, however, was resolved not long thereafter and Musk posted the results.
The Dragon capsule will dock with the Space Station for a period of three weeks before returning to Earth. The vehicle will reenter by parachuting into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Baja California.
