ISS FLYBY 10:22pm EST JUNE 6th 2008

GEOGRAPHIC COORDINATES
The Earth's geographic coodinate system is familiar to everyone - the north and south poles are defined by the Earth's axis of rotation; equidistant between them is the equator. North-south latitude is measured in degrees from the equator, ranging from -90 degrees at the south pole, 0 degrees at the equator, to +90 degrees at the north pole. East-west distances are also measured in degrees, but there is no "naturally-defined" starting point - all longitudes are equivalent to all others. Humanity has arbitrarily defined the prime meridian (0 degrees longitude) to be that of the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, England (alternately called the Greenwich meridian).

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Science & Technology

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• aviation
• space