SOVIET SPACE STATION TO BE VISIBLE HERE ON THREE DAYS; MIR CAN BEE SEEN FRIDAY, SUNDAY, TUESDAY

People in Southeast Missouri will have an opportunity to watch $1 billion of Russian space technology race across the sky when the space station Mir is visible Friday, Sunday and Tuesday.

On Friday Mir will be visible beginning at about 6:26 a.m, on Sunday it will be visible at about 6:06 a.m., and on Tuesday at about 5:48 a.m. Each time the station should be visible for about two minutes.

Dr. Michael Cobb, chairman of the physics department at Southeast Missouri State University, said: "It just looks like a bright star moving across the sky. But you don't often get to see a billion dollars fly overhead."

The space station will appear brighter than any of the other stars. If the sky is cloudy, the station won't be visible at all.

"It goes from horizon to horizon in just two minutes," Cobb explained.

A telescope isn't necessary but is helpful. Cobb also recommends heading outside at least five minutes early in case Mir is slightly ahead of schedule.

Mir orbits over 350 miles above Earth. It is visible because sunlight shines off the station's metallic surface. When it goes into Earth's shadow, it is no longer lit and no longer visible.

Normally, people in Cape Girardeau can't see the U.S. space shuttles because they travel an orbit farther south. Mir, launched in Russia, has an orbit farther to the north.

To spot the fast-moving space station, NASA has issued viewing guidelines based on where Mir will first appear and where it will disappear. It is calculated in degrees from the horizon and in compass location.

In sky-watching lingo, a finger or knuckle seen at arm's length equals about 2 degrees. Zero degrees is the horizon; 90 degrees directly overhead.

Its locations each day:

-- On Friday Mir will first be seen at 15 degrees above the horizon in the northwest. It will disappear at 40 degrees above the horizon in the north-northeast.

-- On Sunday Mir will first be seen at 18 degrees above the horizon in the northwest. It will disappear at 77 degrees above the horizon in the east-northeast.

-- On Tuesday Mir will appear at 39 degrees above the horizon in the west. It will disappear at 38 degrees above the horizon in the south.