This is an interesting event concerning an intriguing effect. Reference James Oberg's 'Starcrossed Orbits' with regards to the Plasma Contact Unit, among others. Given the high voltage of the American PV arrays, without devices to ground the ISS to the surrounding plasma astronauts are at risk of electrocution, etc. Cheers Eric Briggs -----Original Message----- From: Robert Holdsworth [mailto:robbonz1@xtra.co.nz] Sent: Friday, November 04, 2005 5:52 AM To: Seesat List Subject: ISS EVA to jetttison floating point probe It is intended to jettison the floating point probe during the last two hours of the EVA on Monday UTC. Presumably as it is deliberately "launched" it is debris rather than a fragment - or will it be an object in its own right? :-) We have a very good visible pass during the EVA but the pass appears to be too early for the jettison to occur during that it, and presumably the probe will be not particularly bright once released. It is stated as follows: "McArthur is to jettison the device backwards in relation to the direction the station is moving with a smooth motion. He will aim for a velocity of at least half a foot per second. He'll try to throw the FPP 30 degrees upward and 10 degrees to the left of the back of the station." Robert Wainuiomata New Zealand 41.261S 147.948E ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe/Unsubscribe info, Frequently Asked Questions, SeeSat-L archive: http://www.satobs.org/seesat/seesatindex.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe/Unsubscribe info, Frequently Asked Questions, SeeSat-L archive: http://www.satobs.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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