The international space station is one of the greatest feats by man and you can see it without needing any special equipment!
NASA has a website called Spot the Station which will pinpoint when and where the ISS will be visible depending on where you are on the globe. You just have to enter your Country/State and City and NASA provides a list of when the ISS is visible. You can also sign up for alerts on there. However, every entry is not equal. I would only try to see travel times of 4 minutes or more. Otherwise it is too close to the horizon and you have to worry about light pollution and the atmosphere distorting the image.
However, if that is too much for you, go the route I do and use your smart phone! I will provide my favorite on each system. Both rank the siting for you. Both have alarms to notify you when ISS is visible. Both will show where the ISS is at the moment you look it up, plus some other cool features. Most importantly BOTH ARE FREE (but accept donations and have add on features at a price… you can decide if those are worth it). I have used both in the past and promise they are great.
My Favorite for iPhone – ISS Finder
My Favorite for Android – ISS Detector Satellite Tracker
If you don’t have any decent sitings listed when you look it up or are having bad weather during the scheduled sitings DON’T WORRY. The technology only shows up until 10 days after you look it up. So check back in 10 days and you will have a whole new set of possible dates.
Let me know if you see the ISS in the comments!
