SERENITY FLYING IN FORMATION TONIGHT ! by out2theblack

GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

SERENITY FLYING IN FORMATION TONIGHT !

POSTED BY: OUT2THEBLACK
UPDATED: Thursday, February 21, 2008 08:41
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Sunday, February 17, 2008 7:52 PM

ANNOUNCEMENT FROM :

" Space Weather News for Feb. 17, 2008
http://spaceweather.com

DOUBLE FLYBY: If all goes according to plan, space shuttle Atlantis
will undock from the International Space Station (ISS) on Monday morning,
Feb. 18th, at approximately 4:30 am EST. This is good news for sky
watchers across North America who will be able to witness a rare double
flyby on Monday evening. Atlantis and the ISS will appear as a tight
pair of lights, as bright as Jupiter or Venus, gliding in tandem across
the twilight sky--an unforgettable sight. Favored cities include Los
Angeles, New Orleans, Dallas, Jackson (MS), Pensacola, Philadelphia, Reno,
San Diego and others. Double flybys continue on Tuesday, Feb 19th,
albeit not as tight because the shuttle will be moving away from the ISS
as it prepares to land on Wednesday, Feb. 20th."

REMEMBER , thanks to the intrepid Browncoat Astronaut , Steve Swanson , the SERENITY and FIREFLY discs are aboard the Space Station , so when the Shuttle backs away from ISS , we can say Serenity is flying 'in formation' with a Space Shuttle...

To generate data for your location , try the Link at the Space Weather site above , then proceed down the page to the 'Heavens Above' link , and click it to go to that site . You'll have to create a free account , which you can do quickly...Then you can select your location from a map and location database to get co-ordinates for your area...If you'll have a visible pass from your area tonight , it will show 'pass' data concerning the direction in which to look , and the time when the spacecraft pair should become visible...Every ten degrees in height above the horizon is about the height of your fist held vertically at arms length...In other words , your fist (held vertically) against the horizon equals ten degrees...Directly overhead is 90 degrees...If you have a pass generated in your area , there will also be approximate azimuth information given as a set of compass points , like WSW , for West-Southwest , or ESE , for East-Southeast , etc.

It sounds somewhat complicated , because it is , a little bit...But , once you've had a successful sighting , it may become addictive...

Don't get discouraged if it doesn't work out for you this time...It's a fun and challenging hobby , and some persistence (and good weather) will be required...But , staying up all night WON'T be required...A visible pass for a given location will require over-the-horizon solar illumination (at the spacecraft's altitude) ...So , a 'visible' pass will only occur (relatively) near sunset or dawn LOCALLY , wherever you happen to be...But , orbital mechanics determine if the spacecraft track will pass visibly in a particular locale...

There's a 'movie' window at the Heaven's Above site showing a flash of the spacecraft going by...It won't appear to go by as fast as the video would lead one to believe...A typical pass will last at least a couple of minutes , and more than anything , the spacecraft will look like a very bright star traversing the sky at a speed not unlike a jet airplane...But , there will be no colored nav lights or flashing strobes on the space ships...They're just plain , bright , moving 'stars'...

EDIT : Usually , there will be a series of visible passes over the course of several days...Last night , we went to the beach to get a clear view of the horizons , because the pass would be LOW in the sky...The sky was severe clear everywhere EXCEPT near the horizon , where it was HAZY ! Tonight should be much better , as its a relatively higher-altitude pass , and at a much greater magnitude due to better solar illumination around the twilight time...The sun won't have dipped as far below our local horizon .

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Sunday, February 17, 2008 8:12 PM

STRANGEBIRD

Cool. Thanks for the reminder.

Oh and second the link didn't work for me.

<------<<< ~~~~~~~~~~~~~(*)~~~~~~~~~~~~~ >>>------>

"When you can't do something smart, do something right." -Jayne quoting Book

2% of teens have not smoked pot, if you are(or were) one of the 98% that have, copy this into your signature.

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Sunday, February 17, 2008 8:48 PM

OUT2THEBLACK

Quote:
Originally posted by Strangebird:
Cool. Thanks for the reminder.

Oh and second the link didn't work for me.

2% of teens have not smoked pot, if you are(or were) one of the 98% that have, copy this into your signature.

Sorry 'bout the link...I'm working on a really glitchy laptop that I call 'River'...Follow the directions that I added above , and I think you'll get all of it to work...

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Sunday, February 17, 2008 8:50 PM

STRANGEBIRD

Thank's again. I need to let my dad know about this. He's more the sky watcher than I am.

<------<<< ~~~~~~~~~~~~~(*)~~~~~~~~~~~~~ >>>------>

"When you can't do something smart, do something right." -Jayne quoting Book

2% of teens have not smoked pot, if you are(or were) one of the 98% that have, copy this into your signature.

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Tuesday, February 19, 2008 12:59 PM

OUT2THEBLACK

Quote:
Originally posted by Strangebird:
Thank's again. I need to let my dad know about this. He's more the sky watcher than I am.

Going out NOW for tonight's pass...Will report later !
Edit: 'No Joy' this time , either...Perhaps the Endeavour flight in March could afford a similar opportunity , let's hope...

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Wednesday, February 20, 2008 3:45 PM

SAVEWASH

Now I am learning about scary.

I realize I'm way too late for the double flyby, but those of you in the United States can try this site for information as to when you can see the ISS or the Space Shuttle (when it's up):
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/cities/skywatch.cgi?cou
ntry=United+States
Select the state and the city closest to you.

If you're not in the U.S., try the above site, click on "Realtime Data" and "Sighting Opportunities" and search for your country. I hope this is helpful!

"We need to keep our heads so we can ... keep our heads."

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Wednesday, February 20, 2008 7:22 PM

OUT2THEBLACK

Quote:
Originally posted by SAVEWASH:
I realize I'm way too late for the double flyby, but those of you in the United States can try this site for information as to when you can see the ISS or the Space Shuttle (when it's up):
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/cities/skywatch.cgi?cou
ntry=United+States
Select the state and the city closest to you.

If you're not in the U.S., try the above site, click on "Realtime Data" and "Sighting Opportunities" and search for your country. I hope this is helpful!

Tkanks for that , and I could be wrong about this now , but the latest information I've had from NASA on real-time pass info for ISS and Shuttle is that they no longer update for those manned US spacecraft...It used to work , and was useful post-9/11 when Launch times were not being published exactly , but a 'window' was being given for a period of several hours , during which a launch 'might' occur...The useful aspect then was to see when Station would pass in proximity to the Florida launch site , which was usually once or twice during a possible launch 'window'...Then one could make an educated guess about which Station pass would be the more likely candidate for initiating the launch...It's complicated , because there's a 'plane window' and a 'phase window' to accomodate , and that's why a Shuttle launch window never works out to be much more than ten minutes when the Orbiter's destination is the Station , and usually the actual window of opportunity is even shorter due to desired Sun angles and suchlike...

Too bad NASA isn't doing the J-Pass applet for Shuttle and Station sighting opporunities anymore , because there was accurate azimuth information included with the pass sighting opportunity generator...

There may be NASA folk hereabouts with more info on these subjects...

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Thursday, February 21, 2008 8:41 AM

SAVEWASH

Now I am learning about scary.

Okay, I can believe they don't want the wrong people to know where the shuttle is, but I just tried it and they had info for seeing the ISS. I haven't tried to verify the information because we're in the middle of a winter storm and I don't anticipate seeing any part of the sky for about a week. If I do get to try it, I'll try to post again.

"We need to keep our heads so we can ... keep our heads."

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