STS-103/HST observation
Robert Smathers (roberts@nmia.com)
Sat, 25 Dec 1999 19:39:22 -0700 (MST)
A really good pass was observed in Albuquerque tonight.
My first sign of good luck was that storm clouds stayed away long
enough to give me a shot at seeing the just separated (about 2 hours
prior) STS-103 and HST.
The pass was started at 6:06pm and ended at about 6:19pm with
a maximum elevation of 35 degrees. I caught it as it came
out of the storm clouds towards the horizon. I couldn't see
any HST/STS-103 separation at 1x, but with my 10x50 binoculars
I could see separation. From NASA TV I knew the shuttle was
ahead of the HST, but this was another easy way to tell tonight
which was which.
For only the third time in my life, I got to observe a shuttle during
a water dump. At 1x, the shuttle didn't look as sharp as it usually
does, so in the binoculars I looked and found a faint cloud around
the shuttle. Based on past experience, I immediately knew a water
dump was in progress. It's very cool to see the point of light,
the shuttle, surrounded by a "nebula" like thing. The HST was just
off the edge of the water dump cloud.
After the pass, I went inside and heard the "dump termination" call
given my mission control to the astronauts.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
de fcc sgn, Robert Smathers (roberts@nmia.com) Albuquerque, NM USA
Robert's Satellite TV/Baseball page: http://www.nmia.com/~roberts/
Proud owner, 5 TODYWEN(!) and 6 BUD-lites - Albuquerque Intl. Downlinkport
TVRO Audio Subcarrier/SCPC Guide columnist, MONITORING TIMES Magazine
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