Joe It depends where you are on the track of course. I photographed one of the last descending pass reentries over the US back in 1996 of sts91. You can see it at http://www.drdale.com/temp/79entry.jpg It was in Sky and Telescope magazine in Feb 1997 along with a lot of better photos of the event. You should check S&T they had a couple issues with great reentry images. It was still over 50 miles high and in deep twilight. It would be hard to spot in daylight at this location but not impossible. It is going to come in right over Seattle again this time. I am sure that as it comes down over the Midwest it will be brighter. Not sure at what distance from Florida it quits leaving a bright trail but it definitely leaves one between 2,000 and 3,000 miles out and it is doing something like mach 14. Both times I had a reentry over me in Seattle I only heard one boom but it reverberated for a long time. Not extremely loud but like distant thunder. It can also be heard with an AM radio and a ferrite rod because of the ELF radiation but that is for another mailing list. Dale Ireland > -----Original Message----- > From: Skywayinc@aol.com [mailto:Skywayinc@aol.com] > Sent: Friday, November 02, 2007 9:59 PM > To: SeeSat-L@satobs.org > Subject: Shuttle visibility upon re-entry > > Here is a question which no doubt not a few people will be > asking in light of the current Shuttle mission now scheduled > to take a trajectory across the US en route home to Florida. > Although it will be late morning/early afternoon, will > those located under and close to the re-entry path be able to > see the orbiter and or plasma trail against the daytime sky? > I recall videos that were taken of Columbia's final 2003 > flight from New Mexico and Texas clearly showing both > orbiter and the > resultant trail even though it was well after sunrise. > > And will any "bangs" or "whumps" be audible some seconds (or > minutes) after the Shuttle has streaked on by? > > I've been assigned to do a story for SPACE.com about the > visibility of both the Shuttle and ISS as separate entities > after undocking, but the re-entry path over the US puts a > new twist on potential Shuttle viewing. > > -- joe rao > > > > > ************************************** See what's new at > http://www.aol.com > > -------------------------------------------------------------- > ----------- > 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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