This Franklin Fact is from Chief Astronomer Derrick Pitts.

Today at 6:11 pm EST, Space Shuttle Atlantis is scheduled to lift off with five astronauts aboard from Kennedy Space Center, bound for earth orbit and the International Space Station.

The Atlantis mission is to deliver a new station section and other supplies to the Station's live-in crew of three. Atlantis will dock with ISS Friday morning around 9 am EST.

Here's something you may not know: both the Shuttle and Space Station are easily visible to the naked eye during early morning and early evening passes over the Delaware Valley, because the spacecraft reflect sunlight to earth. So if you look up at the right time, you can see both as they slip silently across the sky at 17,000 mph.

To find out when these spacecraft will be visible next, point your Internet web browser to

www.nasa.gov

and click on "Space for Kids" or go to

www.heavens-above.com

and follow the directions. Here's your chance to get "in touch" with the space program - wave to the astronauts as they fly by!