joe@montebello.uhcc.Hawaii.Edu (Joe Dellinger) (04/23/91)
The fireball made by the shuttle's external tank reentering was
widely observed in Hawaii after the last launch, both from the Big Island
AND from Oahu (which has most of the population on it). Made the front page
of the Honolulu papers. Now, Sky and Telescope always implied that this sight
could be seen only from the Big Island; was the previous flight in some sort
of special orbit that dropped the tank especially far North?
The previous reentry happened at about 5AM local time. Are these
things predictable? I certainly got no warning myself (and didn't see it).
Is looking for it as simple as scanning the Southern skies some amount of
time (80 minutes?) after launch, and hoping for the best? Then the only
trouble is finding out when the launch happens; would any short wave
station I can pick up here carry that information live or close to it?
Thanks!
/\ /\ /\/\/\/\/\/\/\.-.-.-.-.......___________
/ \ / \ /Hawaii Institute of Geophysics, Honolulu\/\/\.-.-....__
___/ \/ \/Joe Dellinger, Internet: joe@montebello.soest.hawaii.edu\/\.-.__