This posted today to the SeeSat list. I liked his suggestion to try and get a picture. As (bad) luck would have it I'll only have about a 3 minute window this evening but, weather permitting, I think I'll try. Those of you in this area with better horizons will have up to 23 minutes. Poorer prospects for tomorrow but better the next night. Good hunting, patrick +++++ We have been celebrating some spaceflight anniversaries over the past few months. Here's one more: On 17-MAR-1958 Vanguard I (1958-002B, #5) got launched. As it was only the fourth satellite to reach orbit (and the second American one) it normally ends up as a mere footnote in the history of spaceflight (while its first failed launch attempt gets prominently mentioned and its second failed launch attempt not mentioned at all). It nevertheless was a remarkable satellite: With a mere 16 cm diameter and just 1.5 kg it did have two radio transmitters one of which was powered by solar cells (a space first) and kept going for a few years. And while its predecessors decayed after just a few months in orbit Vanguard I and its booster (1958-002A, #16) are still up there and can be observed - the first human objects to have survived half a century in orbit. Unfortunately my equipment isn't up to the job (and the weather doesn't seem to be cooperating anyway) but if any of you do have powerful enough equipment could you try a golden anniversary picture of Vanguard I or its booster in orbit? Gerhard HOLTKAMP Darmstadt, Germany +++++ That prompted another SeeSater, Allen Thomson, to reply: +++++ For those with a historical bent, the Defense Technical Information Center has a number of declassified Project Vanguard technical reports, quite a few downloadable as PDF files. Go to stinet.dtic.mil/str/advanced-tr.html , put "Vanguard" in the search box and tell it to sort by report date in ascending (oldest first) order. +++++ patrick