Mir/STS-91 Post-Undocking Obs. - Part 2 of 2

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Hello again everyone.

The sequel was much better than the original.

At 22:53 EDT (02:53 UT) - right on time the Shuttle and the Mir rose above the
horizon - below the Big Dipper.   The Shuttle was brighter than I have ever
seen it (-2.0 to -2.5).  It looked almost as bright as the -3 Flare from
Iridium 38 at 22:14 EDT (02:14 UT) .  The Mir trailed by a slightly greater
distance than the 21:20 EDT pass.  The 2 spacecraft easily fit into the FOV of
my 12x50s.  

I did not time the separation - I was too busy gawking.   The Mir was fairly
bright - about a -1.0;  I believe I've seen it brighter.

Both dimmed as the passed beta-UMi and exited into the earth's shadow over
gamma-UMi.

Cheers.
Don Gardner
Homepage: http://members.aol.com/mir16609/
76.8419 W, 39.1796 N,  34m ASL

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