Hi All and especially Alan Ive been following with interest the discussion re the re-entry of the above object over Southern Africa on 27 April and might be able to add a little to it. Alan is correct - there was only one re-entry on the 27th - the report of another one the following day is incorrect. My involvement with this subject is as follows: On Friday 28th I received a phonecall from Dr.Chris Koen of the S.A.Astronomical Observatory saying that they had received a report of something landing. As I used to deal with satellites and related matters whilst still employed at the Observatory as an astronomer until my retirement 6 months ago , Chris wanted to know if I could shed any light on the subject and would I deal with the press. At the time I did not know what the candidate was but said it was probably part of a satellite and "no- my name and telephone number was not to be given to the press". Two days later I received another phone call from Dr.Dave Laney, also of the SAAO with a report that another object had landed the next day and did I know anything. In the meantime I had consulted Alan Pickups Decay Watch and said that the object of the 27th April was probably object 23834 96-19B GPS 2-25 Delta 2 rocket and so informed Dave. I then said the only re-entries for the 28th were Pegasus debri and I didnt think they fitted. Again I was asked to handle the press and again I said " no way". On the 2nd May I received a call from Case Rijsdijk of SAAO asking what I knew about the re-entry - looks like there isnt much inter-communication at SAAO :-) and again I was asked if I would like to deal with the press- again I said "no " ( anybody guessed by now I dont like talking to the press ?) Anyway yesterday I received another phonecall from SAAO from Willie Koorts who informed me that the Observatory now had several pieces from the re-entry and was I interested in seeing them, so I went to the Observatory and got some more info. Firstly there was only one re-entry and that of the 27th. It would appear that at least 4 pieces landed in a line stretching between Cape Town and the vicinity of Worcester, a smallish town about 45 miles east of Cape Town. The best estimate I have of the time of re-entry was around 13:30 UT. The Observatory has three of the pieces : (1) large metal tank approximately 8 feet or so long ( I didnt measure ), and diameter about 6 feet. It is in very good condition and only had a few dents and several small tears in the wall of the tank. The walls are very thin and the entire structure is very light. At one end appears to be where a motor may have been attached- I am not familiar with the outlay of the Delta rocket so its all speculation. This part of the tank is in excellant condition and the screws that must have held something else to the tank could be easily unscrewed and were undamaged. (2) nozzle - aprroximately 18 inches diameter by about 2 feet - again in reasonably good shape and the nozzle throat showed relately little damage from the initial rocket burn. It appeared to be made up of a fibreglass like substance . (3) a large metal sphere about 3 feet in diameter - this I did not see as it was being collected from the crash site as I visited the observatory. This could have been a pressurization tank. (4) I understand there may be a fourth piece but I have no further information. The Observatory is planning to keep these items to put on in their Public Display centre when it is constructed. in due course. Since Case has been travelling around the coutryside collecting the bits and pieces ( I understand the police delived the tank to the observatory ) he will be the best person to contact for actual sites were the objects were recovered from. In addition he probably now has more information than myself. His email address is case@saao.ac.za and he is the Public Educations Officer at SAAO. I also saw some photographs of the tank and nozzle sitting in the mechanical workshop at SAAO so these may be available and probably may even be now on the SAAO web site. Hope this helps Regards Greg Roberts Retired astronomer and a dodger of the press ----------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe from SeeSat-L by sending a message with 'unsubscribe' in the SUBJECT to SeeSat-L-request@lists.satellite.eu.org http://www2.satellite.eu.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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