Friday's launch of the space shuttle Endeavor gives observers along the Blue Ridge Parkway an interesting sight. Since it is scheduled to take off at 7:55 p.m., the shuttle rocket exhaust can be seen from this part of Virginia. Five to seven minutes after it lifts off in Florida it passes off Virginia Beach as it flies over the ocean. If we have clear skies to our southeast and east, the shuttle can be spotted as a swiftly moving "star" low above the horizon. It will pass below the Pleiades star cluster. Then it should approach the bright star Aldebaran in Taurus. The shuttle should be brighter, though. As it moves up the East Coast, it will pass the gibbous Moon before it disappears.
Keep your fingers crossed for a clear eastern sky!
Such is our view from Earth ...
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