If you look up at the sky for long enough at dusk or dawn, or take a few seconds to Google its position, you may see the International Space Station (ISS) zipping its way over your head at 28,000 kilometers per hour (17,500 miles per hour).
While seeing it is pretty cool in itself (who doesn’t like to see an actual space station with their own eyes), there is an even more awesome sight available, which you may have missed over the weekend. That sight did not elude one Reddit user, though at first they did not know what they were looking at.
“I saw something following the ISS tonight,” a post from user Capa-riccia explained. “Tonight I Saw the ISS very clear and bright. I saw also a smaller white dot following it precisely. What could it be?”
A few others also claimed to have seen lights trailing the ISS on Sunday.
“Damn, I saw these two objects yesterday night here in Italy at the coastline and me and my girlfriend were wondering if these are two satellites,” Chrisfromb wrote. “Just randomly scrolling through Reddit now and your post pops up.”
So what was it? As everybody pointed out, Sunday was the day that the Crew-9 mission arrived and docked with the ISS.
The sight they likely saw was the approach and docking, NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov’s ride into the orbiting science lab. The two should have been joined by two further astronauts, but following the problems with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, two seats were left empty on board the Dragon capsule. These seats will be used by astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore when they return to Earth in February 2025.
While great news for the astronauts waiting for their ride home, it was a pretty good sight from down below.
“Wow! The docking is visible on the ISS live now app,” Capa-riccia added, when they realized what they were seeing. “Forgive my enthusiasm but it’s the first time I witness something like that.”
Source Link: Redditor Spots Something Following The International Space Station, Gets The Obvious Answer
