--- Patrick Wiggins <paw@trilobyte.net> wrote offline:
FYI, I've attached an image showing the craft's path across the sky as seen from the Wendover airport. Patrick
Thanks. That looks like there's some (but a small) chance of seeing the last of the reentry fireball just as its coming up over the horizon - as it's streaking through Tau and Ori. The chart shows a fast track - about 140-160 degrees of arc (az 300 to az 160 ) in 1 min 40 secs (100 secs). The track starts at about 20 degs above the horizon. Assuming the vehicle is at 100km altitude when it is first visible, it is about 250 kilometers downrange. That means its average speed over the 100 secs shown on the track is 2.5 kilometers per second or about 5,600 mph. Although I can't say if the fireball will be visible, it looks like there is a good chance that there will be a sonic boom. The Moon shown at alt 60, az 225, is one day away from quarter phase. Looks like you'll still need the night vision goggles to see the parachute. -:) - Canopus56 (Kurt) __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com