Soundbite #1
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Meyer talks about the purpose and importance of the Space Station.

Transcript: "The Space Station has two major purposes. One, of course, is that it's the stepping stone to future space exploration of our solar system. But second of all, and I think most importantly, is the ability to use it as a science laboratory — a unique one because it's in microgravity — where we can study all kinds of things that we can't do here on the Earth."

Meyer talks about how easy it is to track the Space Station.

Transcript: "Seeing the Space Station is very easy. All you have to do is come to the Web site liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov and put in your zip code and you hit the GO button. Once you do that, you'll get back a sky chart. Basically it's just a picture of your night sky, and it shows a path where the Space Station is going to be going through your sky."

Patrick Meyer talks about the best times to see the Space Station.

Transcript: "The best times of day to see the Space Station, of course, are going to be just before the Sun rises or just after it sets because you want the Space Station to be in the sunlight while you're still in darkness."

Here's what you need to see the Space Station:

Transcript: "To see the Space Station, all you need are your eyes. If you tried to see it with binoculars or a telescope, you'd be trying to see a bullet through a straw because it's moving at 17,000 miles per hour."

The Space Station makes 2-3 passes over the same area every month.

Transcript: "Don't be surprised if you don't catch it right off the bat because it's moving quite quickly. Just give yourself a minute because it's going to take about five to seven minutes to go through the sky. So give yourself a little time, and if you miss it, don't panic because you're going to get another chance. Just come to the Web site, and it'll give you a predict of when it'll happen again, about two to three times a month."

The Space Station is going to get bigger and bigger.

Transcript: "Right now, the Space Station is around the size of three buses or so, so it's big. But once it's finished, it's going to be bigger than a football field. So once it gets that big, it's going to be inspectable. It's going to be very bright, brighter than Venus."