Re: LDEF in the shuttle bay?

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Allen Thomson wrote:
> 
> Jay Respler said,
> 
> >When I knew that the shuttle would retrieve LDEF, I made predictions
> >for that and sure enough, there was LDEF in the shuttle bay.
> >That was one of my more exciting observations.
> 
> Could you provide more detail about what you saw, please?   Ron Dantowitz'
> telescope could certainly have literally seen the LDEF in the bay -- did you
> have a similar setup?

I was mis-leading. Pardon me. I was using 8x56 binoculars. While shuttles are
bright in the deep south, they're at a very low elevation and not visible naked
eye from here. I'm referring to 28 deg missions, of course.
I had used MrOrbit to make predictions for LDEF using the old paper elements
that I had. By the time I saw them, Jan 14, 1990, 5:59:11 am EST, LDEF had been
picked up by shuttle Columbia, STS 32.  Mag 3-3.4.  Elevation 8 deg.

I may have seen combined light but I did not see LDEF distinct from STS.
Same as you see combined light of all Mir components now, but unless you have
Ron's setup, you don't see the individual pieces. I was excited that I could see
the shuttle at all, not that I could make out LDEF separately.
Sorry for any confusion.

-- 
Jay Respler
--
          JRespler@superlink.net 
Sky Views: http://mars.superlink.net/jrespler/skyviews.htm <<=NEW ADDRESS!!
   Satellite Tracker * Early Typewriter Collector
           Freehold,  New Jersey

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