Spacecraft will be visible in the Springs' sky

Colorado Springs sky watchers will get an eyeful Wednesday when at least two and as many as three spacecraft will be visible on the city's southwest horizon.

Two of the craft are guaranteed to make an appearance between Pikes Peak and Cheyenne Mountain as they orbit 240 miles above the planet.

The international space station and the European Automated Transfer Vehicle will appear about 7:56 p.m. and be visible for up to five minutes, Air Force Space Command at Peterson Air Force Base said Tuesday.

The trifecta will require a landing delay for the space shuttle, which has been working at the station but is scheduled to return to Earth at 5 p.m.

If the shuttle misses the landing window by two hours, which is a fair bet with weather and technical issues frequently causing delays to landings, Colorado Springs is in for a real show.

"It's very rare to have three vehicles lined up in orbit," said Jeff Ashby, a veteran astronaut and the Colorado Springs command's liaison with NASA. "Two vehicles is fairly rare, too. We get to see that every couple of months. Three vehicles is almost unheard-of."

The Automated Transfer Vehicle is waiting in orbit near the international space station for its turn to dock with the station, planned for next week.

Space Shuttle Endeavor left the space station Monday and was trailing in orbit by 50 miles, Space Command said.

All three were traveling about 17,500 mph.

The three were visible together in the sky for about a minute Tuesday evening at 9 p.m.

Wednesday could offer a longer show: Five minutes of zero-gravity ballet.

"This is a great thing for parents to do with their kids," said Ashby, who has traveled 11 million miles in space on two shuttle flights, with 436 orbits of the Earth. "The primary thing is you can see it with the naked eye. You realize how close space is to us here on Earth.

For spacecraft sightings, visit NASA's Web site.