(SNES) STS Mission 109

["Les Lytton" <Starman@SAMnet.net>]

Hello Everyone...

The Hubble Space Telescope passes through our southern skies every 97 minutes
or so while circling the earth from west to east in its nearly equatorial
orbit.  It normally shines by reflected sunlight at about magnitude 4 in the
early evening and early morning skies.  But... because it can never be higher
than 14 degrees above the southern horizon at our latitude of around 40
degrees north here in southern New England, and more often than not, skims
along the southern horizon no higher than 10 degrees, the monstrous telescope
is extremely difficult to spot visually.  I have successfully seen it with my
naked eye only once out of dozens of attempts.  However, if one knows its
transit times and where to look, it can be seen easily enough with a pair of 7
x 50 binoculars.

The HST is currently undergoing its third repair/upgrade by the crew of
Shuttle Transport mission 109, which is scheduled to return to Earth on the
morning of the 12th.  The shuttle, being much more massive than the HST (as
well as being painted white), reflects much more sunlight than the overall
dark body of the telescope housing.  Columbia is presently sharing HST's orbit
and is floating right beside the famous telescope, and is shining at about 2nd
magnitude - bright enough to easily be seen visually even at its extremely low
elevation in our skies.  As a matter of fact, when Columbia is viewed with a
pair of binoculars, the shuttle and the HST can easily be seen as two distinct
objects in the same field of view.  Prior to returning to Earth next Tuesday
the 12th, Columbia will retrieve the HST into its cargo bay, fire its engines,
and boost HST into a higher orbit.

For the next three consecutive mornings, those of us who are early risers will
have the chance to see Columbia, and using her as a guide, can also view the
elusive HST with binoculars or a telescope.  For those of you who have GOTO
scopes with HST in your database, you might even be able to catch a glimpse of
one of the crew members during a space walk (Wishful thinking only)!
Actually, because we can only see it through a VERY dense layer of air, very
near the Earth's surface, the view will be badly degraded at best - unless we
are fortunate enough to get one of those next-to-never perfect skies.  But
hey...  that's what it's all about...  ya don't try, ya don't get!

If you've never seen a Russian built space vehicle, there's a nice chance to
do so this evening as well.  The rocket body, Cosmos 2219, which was launched
in 1998, will pass from northwest to southeast starting at 6:09 PM local time,
shining at magnitude 3.5.  A second Russian vehicle, the spy (uh... I mean
Intelligence Gathering) satellite Cosmos 2367, launched in 1999, will transit
just 25 minutes later.  It will be easy to spot at magnitude 1.5, traveling
northbound in its polar orbit from SSW to NNE, starting at 6:36 PM local
time.

The skies look favorable for the next couple of days, so here's hoping we all
can take advantage of some good viewing, if even for just a couple of minutes,
as schedules allow - and even if only with a lowly pair of binoculars.


COSMOS 2219 ROCKET BODY TRANSIT (times are EST):
05 Mar -Start: 18:09:03 -Pos: 100 NNW -Mag: 3.5 -Max Alt: 560 ENE

COSMOS 2367 INTELLIGENCE SATELLITE TRANSIT:
05 Mar -Start: 18:36:29 -Pos: 100 SSW -Mag: 1.5 -Max Alt: 490 ESE

STS 109 HST SERVICE MISSION TRANSITS:
06 Mar -Start: 04:49:35 -Pos: 120 SSW -Mag: 2.0 -Max Alt: 130 S
07 Mar -Start: 04:50:54 -Pos: 110 SSW -Mag: 2.0 -Max Alt: 120 S
08 Mar -Start: 04:52:14 -Pos: 100 SSW -Mag: 2.1 -Max Alt: 110 SSW


Respectfully,

Les Lytton
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