Joe Rao asked: > I just received this from my editor at SPACE.com. Can > anybody provide an answer that I can relay back to him? > -- joe rao > > QUESTION: SpaceX just stunned me by launching Falcon 9 and > Dragon mkockup today. The Dragon capsule mockup is going to > stay in orbit for up to 1 year before burning up on re-entry. Seems unlikely, unless it has a very high areal density. Will be able to estimate once elsets with reliable decay rates appear. > I'm just wondering if you had any idea if people can try and > see it in space at all or not. Supposedly it's at 250 km, not > sure of launch trajectory or inclination. The first TLE of 10026A / 36595 has appeared on Space Track. Orbit is 34.5 deg, 239 km X 280 km. A quick check of current visibility north of the equator, reveals the tail end of evening visibility at latitudes south of about 30 N; no visibility further north. Morning window opens in a couple of weeks. South of the equator, around 35 S, has tail end (several days) of morning visibility. Ted Molczan _______________________________________________ Seesat-l mailing list http://mailman.satobs.org/mailman/listinfo/seesat-l
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