The International Space Station (ISS) moves through space on a daily basis and is often visible from Earth thanks to its ability to reflect sunlight, according to the ISS website.
Due to the route it took, the Station could be observed from El Salvador at 5:40 in the morning on Thursday, December 15, and was located at an altitude of about 400 kilometers, according to the official website.
The crossing over the country appeared for approximately 7 minutes, ending around 5:47 am and showed up as a luminous star.
As part of the crew, on board is the astronaut of Salvadoran origin, Frank Rubio, who on September 21 became the twelfth Hispanic and the first of Salvadoran origin to reach the ISS. In addition, the rest of the members of “Expedition 68” are also there.
The ease with which the Space Station can be seen from Earth is due to the steel surface with which it is built, also becoming the second brightest object at night after the Moon, explains NASA.
However, NASA details that there are some factors to take into account so that the visibility of the Station is better:
- The ISS must be illuminated by the sun, outside the cone of shadow of the Earth.
- The sun must have set at least 40 minutes before or it must be more than 40 minutes before it rises.
- The ISS must rise more than 5 degrees above the horizon.The ISS must rise more than 5 degrees above the horizon.