mithal@analyz.dec.com (10/20/89)
In next months (November's) Scientific American, there is an article titled "Shuttle Glow" which talks about how objects in low earth orbit travel through highly reactive atmospheric conditions. It also made mention of the fact that during the third shuttle flight in March 1982, researchers and astronauts got pictures of an unexpected, faint orange glow above the shuttle's tail and engine pods where they face directly into the orbital wind. The light came not from the shuttle itself, but from a 20-cm thick region directly above its surface. Anybody else read the article? Comments? Sameer Mithal