Pittsburghers will have the opportunity over the next several nights to see the great heights one of their favorite sons has reached.

That's because the space shuttle Atlantis, now orbiting about 220 miles above the Earth, docked with the International Space Station, and carrying Richland native Stephen N. Frick, will make visible early evening passes over Western Pennsylvania.

Capt. Frick, a 1982 Richland High School graduate, is commanding the current Atlantis mission that lifted off Friday from the Kennedy Space Center on a 12-day expedition. Capt. Frick also was aboard Atlantis when it visited the space station in April 2002.

Weather permitting, the combined space shuttle-space station complex will be visible to millions as the brightest object in the night sky after the crescent moon. Some might confuse the methodically moving object with an airplane.

"Look at it carefully," advises Eric M. Fischer, of Hampton, a satellite-observing expert with the Amateur Astronomers Association of Pittsburgh. "If you see red and green flashing lights, or white flashing lights, or multiple lights, you know that's an airplane. The space station, on the other hand, will look just like a bright star, a single point of light, very blue-white appearance.

"It's going to be far brighter than any of the background stars, brighter than most of the planets, in fact."

The space shuttle, space station and other orbiting satellites become visible when the sunlight that strikes them reflects to the ground.

According to predictions from the Web site heavens-above.com, Pittsburgh area residents can spot the shuttle-space station in the northwest about 7:10 tonight. It will reach a maximum height of about 40 degrees in the north-northeast -- 10 degrees equals the width of a fist as seen at arm's length -- at 7:12 p.m., but disappear into Earth's shadow shortly thereafter.

For a Valentine's Day treat, watch for the pass starting just before 7:30 p.m. tomorrow in the west-northwest. The maximum will be just before 7:33 p.m., when the complex will reach 60 degrees, but disappear almost immediately into our planet's shadow.

Look a little earlier Friday, when the shuttle and space station will appear about 6:16 p.m. in the northwest. Maximum altitude of 36 degrees in the north-northeast will occur seconds past 6:18 p.m. By 6:21 p.m., the pass will end in the eastern sky. On its next orbit, the shuttle-space station will be visible at less than 20 degrees in the southwest from about 7:51 to 7:53 p.m.

Saturday will offer yet another excellent opportunity to see Atlantis and the space station. The pass will begin about 6:36 p.m. in the west-northwest, reach maximum before 6:39 p.m. at 73 degrees in the southwest -- 90 degrees is directly overhead -- and end before 6:42 p.m. in the southeast.

And while we're looking up, Mr. Fischer says, there is a good chance Capt. Frick will recognize his hometown if he looks down during one of the passes.

"Stephen Frick, being a pilot originally, probably knows very well what Pittsburgh looks like ... the triangular pattern of lights around the rivers," Mr. Fischer says. "I'm sure all his years flying as a pilot, he'll be able to tell, even from space."