Op 30-3-2026 om 22:51 schreef Raphael Guinamard via Seesat-l: > Dear all, > I saw that lunar insertion on 3rd april 00:00UTC will not be visble as in earth shadow. > But what about visibility (from Europe) just after launch on 1st april or even 2 nd April ? > Regards > Raphaël If launch is at 1 Apr 22:24 UTC, Europeans can potentially spot it in its HEO orbit some 3h after launch. It strongly depends on where you are: for the Netherlands, maximum sky elevation is a mere 10 degrees....more south in Europe, it will be higher in the sky. I note that Dillon's TLE for this phase does not match JPL HORIZONS predictions at all. Ted's HEO orbit, although tagged for a later time, actually is quite close (fractions of a degree) and suggest shadow exit around 1:31 UTC (April 2). Spacecraft altitude at that time is around 24 000 km. I suggest you get positions for your location directly from HORIZONS, they will likely be the most reliable, but Ted's TLE seems a good match too. - Marco ------ Dr Marco Langbroek Lecturer in optical Space Situational Awareness (SSA) TU Delft, Faculty of Aerospace Engineering section Astrodynamics and Space Missions ------ _______________________________________________ Seesat-l mailing list https://lists.seesatmail.org/mailman/listinfo/seesat-lReceived on Mon Mar 30 2026 - 15:40:58 UTC
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