The International Space Station is visible blazing a trail across the sky every night this week (and next week until Feb. 7). I've seen it a couple of times already, passing near Venus, Mars and the Moon now that they're all in the evening sky. On board are two space veterans Michael Foale and Alexander Kaleri. They've been on I.S.S. since October and will stay until April. See the I.S.S. column in our magazine every month for details of what they are doing up there. If you've never seen it before I.S.S. is the brightest star-like object in the sky (apart from Venus, which I.S.S. can occasionally rival in brightness) for a couple of minutes, moving from West to East, usually very high up. I.S.S. flies over at a different time each evening - so call our Newslines 1550-111-442 (74c/min) after 12 noon each day for that night's prediction. In N.Ireland/U.K. call 09001 88 19 50 (60p/min). [The prediction should be within the first 30 seconds so it only costs a few cent/pence] But the interest hots up on Thursday night for a couple of nights when an unmanned Progress re-supply craft will be launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on its way to dock with I.S.S. We should get to see the Progress as a slightly dimmer 'star' chasing I.S.S. across the sky. It is delivering 2.5 tonnes of food, fuel and supplies. Progress is due for launch at 11:58am Thursday so we get out first chance at seeing a "space chase" on Thursday night (not Friday night as you may see mentioned in the media and elsewhere). The Russians tend to launch regardless of weather conditions so the launch time should be quite reliable. On Thursday night the distance between I.S.S. and the Progress is likely to be quite large. I.S.S. may be going down in the East as Progress is coming up in the West. But they may be closer so get out and check for yourself. Progress is due to dock with I.S.S. on Saturday at 1:18pm Saturday so we should see a much closer "space chase" on Friday night. If anything does not go to plan they may not dock on Saturday so another space chase might be seen on Saturday and subsequent nights. Call the Newsline and we'll post brief updates on the space chase as well as the prediction for seeing I.S.S. each evening. You can watch the docking of Progress with I.S.S. live on NASA TV from 12:30pm Saturday, see: http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/MM_NTV_Web.html This Sunday is the 1st anniversary of the loss of the Shuttle Columbia something to reflect upon as you watch I.S.S. over the weekend. The next Shuttle mission to I.S.S. is not expected before November, maybe even next year. Email observe@astronomy.ie if you see the "space chase" BRIEF NOTES: 1. Congratulations to NASA on landing its second rover "Opportunity" on Mars last Sunday, and for re-establishing contact with the Spirit rover that landed 3 weeks earlier, although it will be weeks before they get it 'roving' again. For pictures follow the 3 links on our webpage www.astronomy.ie 2. Congratulations to Prof David Southwood and his team who released the first images from Mars Express. David told us in Dublin on Jan. 12 at our New Year Public Lecture that the pictures were stunning but could not be publicly released until the German Science Minister was ready! Commiserations to the Beagle 2 team (especially those we met at our Astro-Expo last November in Dublin) who suffered what must be the fatal blow over the weekend when a new communication mode was tried to make contact with the now lost probe. 3. January 31 is the deadline to send your name to a comet. See page 11 of the January issue then click on: http://deepimpact.jpl.nasa.gov/sendyourname/index.html Do a search for "Astronomy Ireland"! Can anyone beat certificate no. 9021? Enjoy the space chase and pass on our Newsline numbers to everyone you know by email or word of mouth: 1550-111-442 (74c/min in Republic of Ireland) 09001-88 19 50 (60p/min N.Ireland and Britain) ===== David Moore BSc FRAS, Chairman, Astronomy Ireland, P.O.Box 2888, Dublin 5. Editor, "Astronomy & Space" magazine. ASTRONOMY SHOP: open until 6pm Mon.-Sat. Tel (01) 847 0777. Fax (01) 847 0771. www.astronomy.ie (Subscribe FREE to this emailing list) Email: info@astronomy.ie