Northern Utah residents have a chance to see space history in the making Thursday morning, according to Hansen Planetarium spokesman Patrick Wiggins, although history will look like a moving dot of light.
The dot is the Space Shuttle Endeavour, hooked to the new International Space Station. This week, Endeavour astronauts attached the first two components of the station, the Russian-built control module Zarya with the new Unity module that the shuttle carried into orbit. The two parts tower seven stories, sticking out from the shuttle's cargo hold.About 7 a.m. Thursday, watchers in Salt Lake City should be able to glimpse Endeavour and the station. The craft should be gliding from the north-northwest to north-northeast, reaching only 19 degrees above the horizon. (A fist held at arm's length covers about 10 degrees.) "Look low in the northern sky," Wiggins said. He is uncertain how bright the dot will be, put potentially it could be fairly bright, he said. That is, assuming clouds don't cover that part of the heavens.
Those farther north, such as near the Utah-Wyoming border, should see the craft higher in the sky.
The shuttle-station complex may be visible for several mornings this week. For more details, call the planetarium's Starline information number, 532-STAR.