Chuck asked me to post this. patrick I'm off the astro list currently; I just don't have time to spend on- line these days unfortunately. Hopefully life will settle-down when winter arrives and I can spend more time on this box. Be that as it may, I thought you two might possibly be interested in this and pass it on to the astro list if Bob hasn't already: Sunday morning my friend Bob Grant (retired engineer and also a periodic SLAS member) hiked to the top of Mt. Olympus, the south peak. While there, he called me on his cell phone (about 11:00 am) and I stepped into my front yard which has line-of-sight to the top of Olympus. Hand-holding my 100mW laser, I tried to hit the peak while he remained on the phone. To our amazement, he and his hiking partner clearly saw the green flash when the beam swept over them. We repeated the test for about ten minutes, I had to let the diode cool- down between duty cycles. Each time they clearly saw the green laser, in bright sunlight! The line-of-sight distance is about 10 miles from my house to the peak. I have not calculated spot size due to beam divergence at that distance, but would estimate that it is easily a meter or two, at least. I am thoroughly convinced that the ISS and/or shuttle crew could easily see one or more green laser pointers aimed at them from the ground. If Patrick could use his ambassador status to enquire about the possibility of such an activity, I would love to take part.