I saw something following the ISS tonight...
Suppose you’ve ever peered into the night sky during dawn or dusk. In that case, you might have been fortunate enough to catch a glimpse of the International Space Station (ISS) streaking across the sky at an incredible speed of 28,000 kilometers per hour. But last weekend, a few keen-eyed sky-watchers witnessed something a bit more unusual.
Reddit user Capa-riccia posted about a peculiar sight: “I saw something following the ISS tonight,” they wrote. “It was bright and clear, and a smaller white dot was trailing right behind it. What could it be?”
Other users joined in, confirming similar sightings. One user, Chrisfromb, added, “I saw the same thing last night on the Italian coast. My girlfriend and I were debating if it was two satellites.”
As it turns out, the mysterious object was no satellite. It was the Crew-9 mission’s Crew Dragon capsule approaching the ISS for docking. Sunday marked the crew’s arrival, carrying NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov to the space station. Interestingly, two seats on the spacecraft were left empty due to Boeing’s Starliner experiencing technical issues, preventing astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore from joining. They’re now scheduled to return to Earth in early 2025.
For those lucky enough to witness this from Earth, it was a rare and spectacular moment. “Wow! The docking is visible on the ISS live app,” Capa-riccia added, expressing excitement. “First time seeing something like this.”
While seeing the ISS is already a marvel, catching a docking process is a much rarer experience. It serves as a reminder of the impressive precision and technology required to explore space. The next time you gaze up at the night sky, keep a lookout—you might just witness something out of the ordinary.
