The International Space Station orbits Earth at a typical altitude of 400 km, with an orbital period of 91 minutes. A viewer looking straight down from ISS can see a field of view corresponding to a medium-sized U.S.state.
John L. Phillips, Ph.D., NASA Astronaut (retired)
John L. Phillips, Ph.D., will give a free presentation this Saturday, February 4, at 1:00 PM at the Sandpoint Community Hall. He will show images featuring the Earth-observation catalog of International Space Station Expedition 11 from April to October of 2005. Characteristic views of land, oceans, the atmosphere, and the night sky will be shown. Phillips will discuss the fallacies and realities of viewing man-made objects from Earth orbit. Highlights will include hurricanes and typhoons of summer 2005, images of regions that are remote but visually striking, and charismatic views of northern Idaho and the Inland Northwest.
Dr. Phillips holds a Ph.D. in space physics from UCLA. He served in the U.S. Navy as a pilot and worked as a scientist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. He was principal investigator for the plasma experiment on the Ulysses spacecraft as it flew over the poles of the Sun. He has authored over 150 scientific publications.
In 1996 Dr. Phillips was selected by NASA as an astronaut. He has flown into space three times: in 2001 aboard STS-100, space shuttle Endeavour; in 2005 on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft for a six-month stay on the International Space Station; in 2009 on STS-119, space shuttle Discovery. He was assigned in 2009 as the NASA Chair Professor at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School, teaching classes on the space environment. Dr. Phillips retired from NASA in 2011 and now lives in northern Idaho.
The presentation is being sponsored by the Coeur du Deluge Chapter of the Ice Age Floods Institute, the Bonner County Historical Museum, and the City of Sandpoint.
