----- Original Message ----- From: <Skywayinc@aol.com> To: <SeeSat-L@satobs.org> Sent: Saturday, July 09, 2005 5:24 PM Subject: Preliminary TLEs for STS-114? > Does anybody have access to preliminary TLEs for the upcoming Shuttle > mission? I believe this is covered in earlier posts? > > I would assume that upon liftoff from Florida, the ISS will be running > roughly 15 to 20 minutes "ahead" of the Shuttle. Here on the US East > Coast, I > suspect that we might have a chance to see STS-114 trailing roughly that > many > minutes behind the ISS on Wednesday evening and about half that amount on > Thursday evening. By Friday evening, both ISS and the orbiter should be > docked and > will appear as a singular object. > Based on a launch time of 1951 UTC on 13 July NASA predicts the rendezvous occurring at 16:28 UTC on the 15th. NB take into account the launch window is from 1945 to 1955 hours UTC, and the time of the rendezvous is stated as approximate. Presumably an exact time will be available once actual launch time is known. (Incidentally NASA also indicates that the rendezvous may not be broadcast, this would be disappointing.) There is a daylight pass of ISS south of Florida around 20 to 30 minutes before Shuttle launch depending on exact launch time. You do not give your exact location, but basing predictions on Miami, Florida sorry to say that there are NO visible passes of the ISS until the 17th and even that one and the following one on the 18th are shadow entries with visibility being so brief as to be virtually unusable. I guess it may be worth checking Hearsat for any information on the radio side of the operation in connection with invisible passes. Passes during this phase of the mission are low elevation to the South and therefore brief at my location with some obstruction from hills, but with careful observation and luck particularly with the weather we may have at least one opportunity. Robert. Wainuiomata, New Zealand 41.261S 174.948E ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe/Unsubscribe info, Frequently Asked Questions, SeeSat-L archive: http://www.satobs.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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