> Presumably they're going to make the ISS and HST TLEs secret too? I had thought about that. We know that there are some good mathematicians in Al-Qaida, and that missions to the ISS must launch at a specific time, +/- 2.5 minutes. So, as far as I can tell, making the ISS secret seems to be the next logical course of action. I don't think that a launch to the HST is supposed to occur for a couple of years.... As for science and satellite deployment missions (where the exact launch time is non-critical), NASA could launch at anytime during the announced 4-hour launch window. >Why just 24 hours? > >An Al Qaida terorrist can hide in Pakitia for weeks being hit by B-52's but >can't stand waiting in a carpark near the Cape for more than 24 hrs with a >Stinger in the boot of his Chevy?? Maybe an attack on the launch pad/Space Shuttle would require more than 24 hours of planning. Perhaps it would be time critical. If they got a hijacked plane through the security net (somehow..), they couldn't just hover around, waiting for the launch to occur. >as Richard says >"ISS is just about the only place the Shuttle launches to anymore. They >launch when the launch site passes through the station's orbital plane." > >So whats the point??? It is true, the Shuttle launches to ISS more than all other targets combined over the long haul. I suspect that the ISS TLE may soon become classified. I hope not. I was reading on Space.com, I think, that during DoD Space Shuttle missions 1985-1990, the launch time would not be announced until the clock hit the T-9 min. hold. It was a virtual media blackout during the mission, I read. If media blackouts are to be imposed, then that would be greatly disappointing. I watched the Progress undock from the ISS today at 12:43 EST (17:43 UT) on NASA TV in darkness. A few minutes later, it was in sunlight. It was departing the station at 0.2 meters per second. A deorbit burn was scheduled for something like 15:40 EST (20:40 UT). As I write this at 16:01 EST (21:01 UT), I assume that the Progress is just about destroyed. The next Progress will be launching soon, and is scheduled to dock on the afternoon (EST/UT) of Sunday, March 24th. Now, let me sign off and prepare for the flaming e-mails I am about to receive.... ------------------------------ Jonathan T. Wojack tlj18@juno.com 39.706d N 75.683d W 5 hours behind UT (-5) ***DOZENS OF SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, ASTRONOMY, SKY AND TELESCOPE, AD ASTRA MAGAZINES ARE FOR SALE*** ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/web/. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe from SeeSat-L by sending a message with 'unsubscribe' in the SUBJECT to SeeSat-L-request@lists.satellite.eu.org http://www.satellite.eu.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Tue Mar 19 2002 - 16:09:52 EST