22 Oct
2007
22 Oct
'07
11:14 p.m.
Vanguard 2 (launched in 1959) is still on orbit and will probably be up there for a long time (estimated orbital lifetime is ~300 years). However, a part of the debris associated with V2's launch (possibly part of the launch vehicle) is predicted to reenter Wednesday morning. From SPOC it'll only be just over 2 degrees above the horizon but for those down south (Jerry? Debbie?) it will be a bit higher. Moving from SSW to SE between 04:29 and 04:33. patrick p.s. V2 is old but not the oldest artificial satellite. Vanguard 1 went up on 17 March 1958 and is still up there. Though only the size of a grapefruit it is visible with mid-sized amateur scopes.