Fw: Information wanted about the Pageos satelite.
Chris Peat (Chris.Peat@dlr.de)
Wed, 3 Jun 1998 13:42:22 +0200
Got this question from a visitor to our Web pages. Can anyone please help
him?
Chris
-----Original Message-----
From: GPeter3414 <GPeter3414@aol.com>
To: Chris.Peat@anitesystems.com <Chris.Peat@anitesystems.com>
Date: 21 May 1998 19:39
Subject: Information wanted about the Pageos satelite.
>540 N. May St. #1073
>Mesa, AZ 85201
>May 20, 1998
>
>E-mail
>GPeter3414@aol.com
>
>Dear Sir:
>
>I was wanting to know some information about a baloon satelite called
pageos
>shich was launched on June 24, 1996. This baloon satelite was of magniude
2
>was easilly visible. I used to watch it regually back when it was first
>launched. At the time I was living in Seattle, Washington. It took about
>three hours to make a single orbit which made it make eight in one day.
>During the summer with the thre hour orbits I sometimes had to stay up
until
>12:30 AM to see a single pass if the earlier pass occured when it was still
to
>light to see. This was easilly possible since sunsets in Seattle could be
as
>late as 9:10 PM and if that was the case 9:30 would probably be too light.
>On July 12, 1975 I was told that Pageos was struck be a metior and a dozen
>pieces broke off. On January 20, 1976 another 20 peices broke off. When
>these peices broke off I noticed that the satelite was not as bright. If
the
>angle between Pageos and where the sun would be below the horizon was small
it
>made it quite dim. I even wondered if possible break off had even started
to
>occur before those dates mentioned because on April 30, 1974 and March 9,
1975
>it seemed dimmer when low in the northwest. The April 30, 1974 observation
>was made around 9:30 PM PDT after a sunset of 8:19 PM PDT and the March 9,
>1975 observation was made at 8:00 PDT after a sunset of 7:05 PDT. The sun
>angle would have been small. On Januaary 31, 1976 eleven days after the
>second breakup it was quite dim when low in the northwest at 7:30 PST after
a
>sunset of 5:11 PST. I was able to continue to view Pageos a while longer
but
>there became incresinling long breaks when i could not see it to to small
sun
>angles. I was able to continue to follow it until September 13, 1977 which
>was my last observation for sure. This was made at 8:00 MDT from Colorado.
>The next day I was farther west in Montana and with the pass 12 minutes
>earlier it was too light to see. Attempts to see further evening passes
was
>futile. On October 28 and 29 I thought I saw it in the morning but was not
>sure if it was the main body of Pageos or not or possible a fragment. I
>believe that as a fragment broke off it would sometimes become bright and
fool
>you. This I believe happened on November 30, 1976 when I saw a fairly
bright
>fragment just before 7:00 AM PST but not orther observation in futre
morning
>agreend with that observation. By January 1978 I finally gave up on
Pageos.
>I am wondering if it countinued to break up and today I am wondering how
many
>pieces there are circleing the earth? I woul be most thankful for any help
>you could provide me with.
>
>Sincerely
>
>
>Gary Peterson