>>Jim Varney (jvarney@mail2.quiknet.com) wrote : >> >>>> I can't say I share your certainty. That tether is quite thin and I >>doubt >>>> it will be visible to ground-based observers. >At the first edition of the European Satellite Observer's Meeting >in Hasselt, Belgium, in 1994, a compilation tape was shown of >video observations of the SEDS-2 tether, which was associated with >a Delta launch. The footage was quite remarkable, and judging from >those video images the tether should not be a very difficult object, it >was naked eye if I remember correctly. > >I watched the SEDS-2 tether shortly before the STS-59 shuttle launch in >1994. Rather impressive looking, like a child's drawing of a comet with a >fairly wide tail. I wish I could have taken a photo ... >Philip Chien, Earth News - space writer and consultant PCHIEN@IDS.NET (and others quoted within Philip Chien's post) One large heaping of crow with my dinner tonight ;) I'm glad I'm wrong -- haven't checked the viewing opportunities; hope at least some of us get a chance to see it... -- Jim ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jim Varney | 121^ 23' 54" W, 38^ 27' 28" N | Sacramento, CA Civil Engineer | Elev. 31 ft. |jvarney@mail2.quiknet.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------