In a message dated 1/10/99 6:33:28 PM Eastern Standard Time, spetched@nro.mil writes: > have just completed calculating times and az/el look angles for viewing the > ATEx tether after it is deployed on 14 Jan 99. It's our hope that the upper > and lower end masses and the tether itself will be viewable with binoculars. Last month, STEX/ATEX was about a 6.5 mag (ref: http://www2.satellite.eu.org/seesat/Dec-1998/0260.html). Hopefully it will be brighter than TiPS, which requires near-perfect conditions in the Balt-Wash area for binocular viewing. > The NRO's Space Technology Satellite (STEX) is the host vehicle for the > Naval Research Lab's Advanced Tether Experiment (ATEx). On 14 Jan 99, ATEx > will deploy and upper end mass on the end of a 6 kilometer tether. Active > tether control experiments will commence for about 2 months, after which the > tether will be jettisoned and remain in orbit. Looking ahead a bit, the next decent pass for the Baltimore/Washington area is mid-March. This assumes no orbit adjustments. Other than the tether control experiments, are there any planned adjustments to the orbit? Thank for posting the info. Cheers Don Gardner Homepage: http://hometown.aol.com/mir16609/ 39.1796 N, 76.8419 W, 34m ASL