In a message dated 6/8/2009 12:09:11 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, canopus56@yahoo.com writes: Launch date and pre-launch NASA-TV internet broadcast for LCROSS. Originally posted by Valmir Martins de Morais in the LCROSS observation group. Opportunity to capture images of the lunar outbound LCROSS-Centaur? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------ I personally think it would be a great public relations coup for NASA if a fuel dump from the LCROSS-Centaur were visible for some or all of North America; imagine the interest generated for someone to be able to run outside at a prescribed time to see the glowing cloud of a space vehicle that at that moment was headed for the Moon. I remember fondly seeing the blowout of excess fuel from the third stage of Apollo 14 en route to the Moon in 1971. The launch occurred on a Sunday just after 4 p.m. EST I remember previously reading in the March 1969 issue of Sky & Telescope on how observers in Great Britain saw the fuel dump from Apollo 8 roughly 4 hours after liftoff and figured I might try looking for Apollo 14 later that evening at around 8:00 p.m. EST. Sure enough, at that time, I saw a brilliant object appear in my western sky, resembling Venus behind a small cloud. It slowly grew in size, while slowly fading away over the next half hour. From what I read in the NASA release that Kurt passed along, a fuel dump from the LCROSS Centaur would have to come about 4 to 5-hours after launch from Florida for any chance of it being visible in a dark or twilight sky, as least from the US East Coast. Of course, it would also have to be above the local horizon. Does anyone have details on the flight path and when a fuel dump might be attempted? -- joe rao **************A Good Credit Score is 700 or Above. See yours in just 2 easy steps! (http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100126575x1221322977x1201367197/aol?redir=http://www.freecreditreport.com/pm/default.aspx?sc=668072&hmpgID=62&bcd= JunestepsfooterNO62) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe/Unsubscribe info, Frequently Asked Questions, SeeSat-L archive: http://www.satobs.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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