RE: [Utah-astronomy] Stardust return
The wx forecast is (gulp) pretty bleak for Sunday in the wee-smalls along the I-80 corridor. Nonetheless, I'll be in Elko that night armed with my camcorder. Maybe we'll get lucky. It may be that I only get to hear a small sonic boom. NASA's being a little vague right now as to how audible it might be. We're told that the point of maximum heating on the capsule during reentry will be above Carlin, a few miles to the west of Elko. To reduce interference from moonlight we're advised to travel a bit south of Elko (increasing the moon-SRC distance), so I'll be heading down Highway 278 south of Carlin a few miles at about 09:00 GMT. Try as I can, I can't get a weatherman to push the advancing clouds out of the way. This may just end up being a Saturday night jaunt with nothing to show for it except a few bucks lost in the slot machines. Seth -----Original Message----- From: utah-astronomy-bounces+sjarvis=slco.org@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces+sjarvis=slco.org@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Kim Sent: Friday, January 13, 2006 2:02 PM To: Utah Astronomy Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Stardust return Has anyone seen a [reliable?] weather forecast for Sunday AM's return of Stardust? I'd hate to make the trek from Sanpete if the weather will be rotten. Also, if weather looks good, are folks planning to rendezvous anywhere? Kim _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.utahastronomy.com
From the FWIW department: If you're making a weekend of it, south of Ely is my favorite ghost town, Cherry Creek NV. I haven't been there for a long time, so it may have changed, but it's worth a side trip or weekend excursion to visit. Also in the area is a great cave, Goshute Cave, that's a good beginning spelunking experience. (Don't go inside, though, without knowing some of the basics.)
Another FWIW: Brent Watson flew Dave Bennett and me to Winnemucca to see if we could observe anything of the Genesis reentry. We saw nothing, but we were convinced that we heard a very weak sonic boom at the right moment. It was about as loud as the report of a distant hunting rifle, but not as directional certainly nothing to get too excited about.
participants (2)
-
Kim -
Seth Jarvis