real time space tracking

[Revolpathon]

is there a website where i can simultanously track the ISS and sts 130?, i found a website where i can track them seperately on google but i can't have them both on screen at the same time and it also doesn't show the orbit lines that i'm used to on the map mfd in orbiter itself.

 

[garyw]

What about using Orbitron and download the TLE's?

 

[Revolpathon]

orbitron is good enough, too bad it isn't real time tracking and i had to add both the tle's for iss and the shuttle manually (the one it has for ISS normally is way off)

 

[cljohnston]

Well, there's Heavens Above, and HobbySpace has a nice page of links for Satellite Watching, which led me to a nifty program called SatScape!

 

[orb]

http://www.n2yo.com/

You can track up to 5 satellites simultaneously there.

You click on STS-130 and ISS (ZARYA) links and do "Add it on your tracking list" for both, and then you just click on "Track them" and both are tracked on a map.

 

[SiberianTiger]

There's also a model screen at the MCC-M website:
http://www.mcc.rsa.ru/model.htm

 

[Turbinator]

Here s a website with a list of 99.99% of sat tracking software out there.
Lists names, links, and descriptions.
http://www.dxzone.com/catalog/Software/Satellite_tracking/


My favourite program is STSPLUS, it is a very fast, extremly detailed, customizable, very graphical, yet has cold war, cruise missle controll centre feel to it. Oh and did I meention that it was used on Mir?
http://www.dxzone.com/cgi-bin/dir/jump2.cgi?ID=10712

That's STSPLUS running on that laptop in Mir. I can't find a better picture, that clearly shows the laptop, head on.

Looks like Mission Control flight monitor sowftware, doesn't it?

---------- Post added at 04:17 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:15 PM ----------

Woo hoo! Found that better picture of it on Mir:

 

[Revolpathon]

i have got to get that piece of kick ass software thanks man, if it was used on mir than it shoud also be real time tracking, unlike orbitron (had to update the location for ISS manually via the TLE i got off n2yo (which was the site i mentioned that couldn't track 2 things at once.... well gues it can i just didn't look better)

though the screensaver of orbitron is kickass

that program is seriousy complicated, i like it

 

[garyw]

orbitron is good enough, too bad it isn't real time tracking and i had to add both the tle's for iss and the shuttle manually (the one it has for ISS normally is way off)

The one is has for ISS is about 4 years old so you just click up the "Update" link and it'll update from the same sources that the other sites do.

 

[Revolpathon]

it did ask me to update, so i updated it, but when i compared the position to the one from n2yo it was off by an entire continent. i got it corrected though by using the TLE from n2yo

 

[garyw]

Is the TLE from n2yo accurate though? I did some testing with different TLE's and they all gave different results - ALL had the wrong GET though which is a little odd.

 

[Revolpathon]

one way to find out... real time observing in the sky.... shame i won't be able to see ISS where i live (low on the horizon, with houses in front), does anyone have a clue as to which TLE's are actually actual accurate?

i already found it so strange that endeavour overtook ISS while it was nearly aligned with ISS's orbital plane, according to my tracker i could've already docked the shuttle 17 hours ago.

my tracker say's that at the moment (with n2yo TLE's) the shuttle is between the usa and russia and the ISS is behind the shuttle halway between south america and australia

on a side note jost compared image's from nasatv (which i can assume are live with only a minute tops delay) it is dark where the shuttle is, while the n2yo tracker say's it's in the middle of the daylight part of the earth, so n2yo has faulty TLE's i think

 

[David413]

If you use the STS-130 scenarios I provide, and pick the scenario nearest to the current time, then open the scenario, place a semi-colon (";") in front of the MJD time, you have a tracking program that is pretty close to reality. I use both STSPlus and Orbitron (and current tle elements from NASA) to check the accuracy, and typically I have sunrise/sunsets that occur within seconds of the tracking programs. Plus, using Orbiter, the view is really nice...:lol:

 

[Revolpathon]

If you use the STS-130 scenarios I provide, and pick the scenario nearest to the current time, then open the scenario, place a semi-colon (";") in front of the MJD time, you have a tracking program that is pretty close to reality. I use both STSPlus and Orbitron (and current tle elements from NASA) to check the accuracy, and typically I have sunrise/sunsets that occur within seconds of the tracking programs. Plus, using Orbiter, the view is really nice...:lol:

i'll download em, how do you know which TLE element NASA provide's is the right one since the page's for the ISS and sts130 elements provide dozens of TLE's

 

[David413]

i'll download em, how do you know which TLE element NASA provide's is the right one since the page's for the ISS and sts130 elements provide dozens of TLE's

Practice my friend, practice...and friends in Houston...:thumbup:

 

[cljohnston]

orbitron is good enough, too bad it isn't real time tracking and i had to add both the tle's for iss and the shuttle manually (the one it has for ISS normally is way off)

SatScape automatically updates the latest TLE's, and it also gives you pass predictions and radio frequency data, if you're a Ham operator.

 

[MajorTom]

TLE Accuracy question

Hi All,

To design a scenario for Soyuz TMA 20 (sched launch time Dec 15, 2010, 19:09 GMT), I looked up the TLE for the ISS from this NASA site:

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/SSapplications/Post/JavaSSOP/orbit/ISS/SVPOST.html

The TLE for Dec 15, epoch 12:00 (the #15 entry on this page, which I accessed on Dec 1) gives an ISS orbit that passes over Baikonur at closer to 19:11, about two minutes later than the published launch time.

Could it be the predicted launch time is outdated, since they set it days or weeks ago (in this case the more recent TLE is more accurate), or perhaps instead the TLEs published here are less accurate than some possibly better info NASA / ROCOSMOS has available?

 

[tblaxland]

The TLE for Dec 15, epoch 12:00 (the #15 entry on this page, which I accessed on Dec 1) gives an ISS orbit that passes over Baikonur at closer to 19:11, about two minutes later than the published launch time.

Launching before the target plane coincides with the launch site is normal, to account for the movement of the orbital planes during the launch. Without going into a long winded explanation, I recommend doing some launches with Launch MFD to get good feeling for why it is so.

 

[MajorTom]

Thank you. I do see the value of launching a bit before the target plane passes overhead, but not TOO long before, or you have to spend an unacceptably high amount of soyuz fuel in aligning the planes. The 19:09 launch time just seems less than optimal, if we assume the TLE gave the correct ISS orbit.

I could tweak the LAN of the ISS orbit by perhaps half a degree, or bump up the launch time by a couple of minutes, to get a great result. I just don't know what has to give.

Edit: I'll play with Launch MFD regardless.