Re: STS-91 sighting
Craig Cholar (3432P@VM1.CC.NPS.NAVY.MIL)
Wed, 03 Jun 98 00:58:19 PDT
Joey Fagan said...
>I was watching NASA TV at about 12:25am EDT (4:34 UT) when the
>groundtrack display indicated the shuttle would momentarily pass over
>northern New York...
>...Thanks to Craig Cholar for pointing out that Mir (and now the
>Space Shuttle) are continuously lit by the sun this time of year. If
>not for his post, I probably would not have attempted to view Discovery
>so long after our local sunset here in southwest Virginia.
Congrats on your STS sighting, Joey. Unfortunately, Mir isn't
continously sunlit anymore; That condition lasts less than
4 days, so it's too bad that the shuttle didn't launch on the
originally scheduled date in late May, which would have made
it possible for observers in lower latitudes to see more high
elevation passes. As I write this, Mir enters eclipse at about
47N and exits eclipse at about 38S, so my STS & Mir passes are
currently low in the north, with bad phase angles. For my
latitude the passes will get gradually higher in elevation as
the mission progresses, but I don't think I'll get good phase
angles. I hope you folks at the higher latitudes have clear
skies and enjoy the show!
While I'm at it, here's an STS-91 elset obtained 06-03 08:00 UT from the
OIG website...
STS-91
1 25356U 98034A 98154.25000000 .00000688 00000-0 70379-5 0 27
2 25356 51.6529 117.3336 0002509 250.9290 208.3732 15.80875185 56
Craig Cholar 3432P@VM1.CC.NPS.NAVY.MIL
Marina, California
36.6862, -121.8050 UTC -7