ISS Fan Club

This Fourth of July weekend will be filled with dazzling fireworks displays for many Americans, but not for NASA astronaut Michael Barratt, who is flying high above Earth on the International Space Station.

Barratt is the only American on the space station's six-man crew, which includes two Russian cosmonauts and astronauts from Japan, Canada and Belgium. But while astronauts can see an amazing amount of detail on the Earth from the station's unique vantage point, spotting the traditional U.S. Independence Day fireworks is not among them.

"It's beyond the capability of human eye apparently to see manmade fireworks from orbit," NASA spokesperson Kelly Humphries told SPACE.com. "It's 200 miles away, you know."

The space station orbits in the Earth at an altitude of about 220 miles (354 km). It can easily be seen as a bright, fast-moving light in the night sky by the unaided eye. NASA said this Fourth of July weekend will offer many Americans a chance to see the station for themselves if weather permits. SPACE.com's Satellite Spotting Guide has full details.

http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/090703-space-station-fireworks.html