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RE: [Utah-astronomy] Shuttle reentry update, 31 JAN 2003, 01:45
by David Dunn 31 Jan '03

31 Jan '03

Patrick, There are now 7 of us from OAS coming south tonight. We are currently planning to stay the night somewhere between exits 42 and 33. We are bringing telescopes and plan to spend a few hours viewing before we sleep in our vehicles. We are then planning to meet you at around 6:30 at exit 16 to view the shuttle. Let us know if you have any change of plans. If others are interested in joining us for the star party, just let me know how to contact you and I will let you know where we end out. We are leaving at about 4:30 to travel south. Thanks. Dave

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Light pollution
by Patrick Wiggins 31 Jan '03

31 Jan '03

Not to downplay our defeat in the senate on Tuesday, but I was out doing some fun flying last night and am happy to report that despite an awful lot of disgusting, wasteful lighting, I saw a number of good examples as well. Interestingly, one of the best was the perimeter lighting at the prison. As seen from above, the light fixtures were invisible. No sign of the light source at all. Just a pleasant glow on the ground below. I guess officials there know about the bad guys hiding in glare. Other good spots included the newer car dealerships. I think most of the folks on this list will agree most car places are over lit but at least the excess light goes down. No sign of it from above. And there were a lot of nice residential street lights and the lights in the center of the freeway (I-15) shine down only. And have you noticed how many of the direction highway signs (as opposed to the commercial billboards) have lights that shine down onto the sign and not up into the sky? Makes me wonder about the testimony from one of the opposition the other day that said the law required billboard lights to shine up. So, while we do have a long road ahead there is a shielded light at the end of the tunnel. Ok, we're off to see the shuttle. (I think there's a song in there somewhere...) Patrick p.s. If any of you would like to do a night flight, I've found a plane I can rent for $40 an hour. I'll pay half.

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Shuttle reentry update - final (probably)
by stargaze＠attbi.com 31 Jan '03

31 Jan '03

Patrick: Myself and two others are heading down about Midnight. We are planning on going to the same exit you are. If you hear any bad news about the flight would you please let me know. My cell is 801-541-1858. This should be cool. I'm excited. I hope it all plays out well. Thanks....Steve Nielsen > I just heard from my contact at NASA for what will probably be the last time > before tomorrow morning's reentry so this will probably be my last pre-reentry > post on the subject. > > Time of the pass has been moved back one minute (big change!) so now we're > looking at 6:56. > > Weather continues to look good (despite what I'm seeing out the window here in > Stansbury at the moment). Flight service (Brent, you listening) says to expect > high winds and a high and broken ceiling with lots of holes to watch the show > through. > > And, Brent, if you find yourself passing over Leeds (113 21.48 W, 37 14.22 N or > about 16 SM out on the St. George 38 degree radial) we'll be monitoring 122.8. > Call sign "Leeds unicom". <g> > > Patrick :-) > > _______________________________________________ > Utah-Astronomy mailing list > Utah-Astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com > http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy

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Shuttle reentry update - final (probably)
by Patrick Wiggins 31 Jan '03

31 Jan '03

I just heard from my contact at NASA for what will probably be the last time before tomorrow morning's reentry so this will probably be my last pre-reentry post on the subject. Time of the pass has been moved back one minute (big change!) so now we're looking at 6:56. Weather continues to look good (despite what I'm seeing out the window here in Stansbury at the moment). Flight service (Brent, you listening) says to expect high winds and a high and broken ceiling with lots of holes to watch the show through. And, Brent, if you find yourself passing over Leeds (113 21.48 W, 37 14.22 N or about 16 SM out on the St. George 38 degree radial) we'll be monitoring 122.8. Call sign "Leeds unicom". <g> Patrick :-)

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Joe does it again
by Patrick Wiggins 31 Jan '03

31 Jan '03

Here's the latest on our shenanigans in the D News: http://deseretnews.com/dn/view2/1,4382,455028741,00.html We're lucky to have a guy like Joe on our side. Patrick :-)

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Shuttle reentry update, 31 JAN 2003, 01:45
by Patrick Wiggins 31 Jan '03

31 Jan '03

The weather for tomorrow (Saturday) morning's reentry is looking good ( http://www.srh.noaa.gov/data/forecasts/UTZ017.php?warncounty=UTC053&city=Sa… ). So I guess it's time to see if anyone would care to either caravan down or meet down there? I've annotated the reentry track map (link at http://planet.state.ut.us ) with lines showing how high the shuttle will reach in the sky. Current predictions have it passing directly over I-15 exit number 16. I'll probably set up a little north of there to make it easier to take pictures (and just in case they drop any bowling balls). <g> I've asked some locals about the horizons at exits 22 and 23. My contact at JSC tells me he'll get me one more ground track map later today. I'll post it as soon as I receive it. I'll also be monitoring NASA Television until just before I leave (probably 1:00 am Saturday) and will post any updates I see there. Lastly I'll be in contact with my JSC contact via cell phone on the way down. That way, if the landing is scrubbed while we're en route we'll know to turn around. Patrick -- Patrick Wiggins NASA Solar System Ambassador to Utah http://planet.state.ut.us 435.882.1209 (observatory) 801.918.9092 (cell)

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Shuttle reentry update (28 JAN, 13:00)
by Patrick Wiggins 31 Jan '03

31 Jan '03

Things are looking better. Columbia is currently predicted to reenter over S. Utah Saturday morning at about 6:55 am which is about 40 minutes before local sunrise. Observers located close to the ground track will have the best view, but Columbia could be visible from as much as 100 miles north and south of the ground track. A link to the latest ground track map can be found at http://planet.state.ut.us . Now if only the weather will cooperate.

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Challenge Doubles
by UTAHDEB＠aol.com 30 Jan '03

30 Jan '03

Brent, Do you think an 8" TEC Mak-Cass could split Beta Delphini? Thanks for the input. De

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RE: [Utah-astronomy] Re: Bowling ball experiment spoof
by Kim Hyatt 30 Jan '03

30 Jan '03

I had time today after all... I spoke with the host of a nighttime BBC talk radio show last night at 7:45 (1:45 AM GMT for you Brits). The story was preceded by a conversation with a bowling pro from California. (Of course, bowling - dropping bowling balls from the air - pretty reasonable segue, no?) The host was brief and to the point. His questions were not mocking, he simply asked for an explanation of what we might do and why. He did ask about the BLM's concerns and I told him we would certainly not be dropping anything on persons on the ground. That was about it. Now I hope things might go away for awhile. (Patrick, are you paying attention?) -----Original Message----- From: Patrick Wiggins Along those lines, I wonder if Kim would like to post here about last night's radio interview...

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RE: [Utah-astronomy] Re: Bowling ball experiment spoof
by Kim Hyatt 30 Jan '03

30 Jan '03

I will - but no time now. I'll have to do it tomorrow. -----Original Message----- From: Patrick Wiggins [mailto:paw@trilobyte.net] Sent: Thursday, January 30, 2003 2:13 PM To: utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Re: Bowling ball experiment spoof Along those lines, I wonder if Kim would like to post here about last night's radio interview... Patrick David L Bennett wrote: > > ...for those who missed Tuesday's SLAS meeting (or are just plain curious) my silly little spoof I created for my presentation is available on my Mac homepage: http://homepage.mac.com/dlbennett/ _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy

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