Redditor Spots Something Following the International Space Station, Gets a Clear Answer

If you look up at the sky long enough at dusk or dawn, or take a few seconds to Google its location, you might see the International Space Station (ISS) making its way overhead at 28,000 kilometers per hour (17,500 mph). hour).

While seeing it is cool in itself (who doesn’t love seeing an actual space station with your own eyes), there’s an even more amazing sight available, which you may have missed over the weekend. This sight was not lost on one Reddit user, even though they initially had no idea what they were looking at.

“I saw something following the ISS tonight,” a post from user Capa-riccia He explained. “Tonight I saw the ISS very clear and bright. I also saw a smaller white dot tracking it precisely. What could it be?”

A few other people also claimed to have seen trailing lights on the International Space Station on Sunday.

“Damn, I saw these two objects last night here in Italy on the coast and my girlfriend and I were wondering if those were satellites,” ChrisFrump books. “Just randomly scroll through Reddit right now and your post will pop up.”

So what was it? As everyone pointed out, Sunday was the day the Crew-9 mission arrived Docked with the International Space Station.

The scene they likely saw was approach and docking, the ride of NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos astronaut Alexander Gorbunov to the orbiting science laboratory. They were supposed to be joined by two more astronauts, but after problems with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, two seats were left empty on board the Dragon capsule. These seats will be used by astronauts Sonny Williams and Butch Wilmore when they return to Earth in February 2025.

While it was great news for the astronauts waiting to go home, it was a very good view from below.

“Wow! The docking process is visible on the ISS Live Now app,” Caparicchia added when they realized what they were seeing. “Excuse my excitement, but this is the first time I’ve witnessed something like this.”