space Shuttle and Fuel Tank visible April 29th

Beeker

As a point of interest the Space Station will also pass over after we see the Shuttle. It is due to pass over from 21:30 - 21:36

derra

Is it not 21:30-21:36 Beeker?
Stellarium seems to have it pass at that time.

Beeker wrote: »

As a point of interest the Space Station will also pass over before we see the Shuttle. It is due to pass over from 20:30 - 20:36

Beeker

derra wrote: »

Is it not 21:30-21:36 Beeker?
Stellarium seems to have it pass at that time.

Correct!:o Silly me was looking at UTC time instead of local!:)

squonk

It's quite bright now after 21:00. I'd imagine that diminishes the chance of seeing the shuttle for us. In July 2009 the launch was delayed IFIRCS so hopefully that will happen again. An extra hour or 30 minutes would make a big difference.

Incidentally, if we miss it at 21:07, what's the next time we can see it? I know second time round won't have the fuel tanks following but it'd be still great to watch.

Beeker

squonk wrote: »

It's quite bright now after 21:00. I'd imagine that diminishes the chance of seeing the shuttle for us. In July 2009 the launch was delayed IFIRCS so hopefully that will happen again. An extra hour or 30 minutes would make a big difference. .

Launch window is only a few minutes long so any long delay will push launch into Saturday night at 20:22 which would reduce our chance of seeing it as the sky would be much brighter and the shuttle dimmer.

squonk wrote: »

Incidentally, if we miss it at 21:07, what's the next time we can see it? I know second time round won't have the fuel tanks following but it'd be still great to watch.

About 90 minutes later. Each orbit takes about 1 and a half hours. Of course at that stage the external tank will be gone having burned up over the Indian ocean.

derra

derra wrote: »

Is it not 21:30-21:36 Beeker?
Stellarium seems to have it pass at that time.

Beeker wrote: »

Correct!:o Silly me was looking at UTC time instead of local!:)

I 'll let you away with it this time Beeker, however i will give you a chance to restore some credibility :D

Have told a few about this, so again like last time when Discovery chased the ISS i need to be armed with some extra info to go with what i know !
So assuming all goes to plan with shuttle launch and great weather.

At what approx speed and altitude will the shuttle be at say 2 mins into our viewing time knowing it increases very rapidly at the speed which it is going?

When out of our view and is climbing higher, how much more time will it take to go into orbit ?

How long does it take from launch to enter space?

What will be the fastest speed the shuttle is travelling at before entering space?

If 20 mins or so after launch when we see it, when does the fuel tank break away?

Cheers.

Beeker

derra wrote: »

At what approx speed and altitude will the shuttle be at say 2 mins into our viewing time knowing it increases very rapidly at the speed which it is going?.

The Shuttle will be travelling at 17500mpph and at an altitude of about 68 miles and climbing.

derra wrote: »

When out of our view and is climbing higher, how much more time will it take to go into orbit ?.

It will already be in orbit at that stage but may need a small correction burn to finisise its orbit.

derra wrote: »

How long does it take from launch to enter space?.

8:45 seconds.

derra wrote: »

What will be the fastest speed the shuttle is travelling at before entering space?.

Top speed is 17500mph {thats mach 25 or 5 miles per second}

derra wrote: »

If 20 mins or so after launch when we see it, when does the fuel tank break away? Fuel has already seperated from the shuttle at 9 minutes after launch and will fall back into the atmosphere about half an hour after we see it burning up over the Indian ocean

Cheers.

tricky D

Beeker wrote: »

derra wrote: »

How long does it take from launch to enter space?

8:45 seconds.

8ish minutes

iPlop

There may be some clouds over Wicklow, I hope theres not I can't wait too see this.

e04bf0c8

For those of you wondering how your location in Ireland will affect your viewing chances there are a few things to consider.

The further south you are in the country the higher in the sky the shuttle will appear and as such will be brighter.

Also there will be very slightly less daylight the further south you go which you want as ideally you want the observer in darkness and the object in sunlight.

Also you have to consider light pollution. So somewhere outside a city or town is a lot more favourable.

And finally there is the weather!

So as you can see a lot of things have to come together at just the right time for something like this to happen. So it really is worth making the effort to see it.

My recommendation for the best view in Ireland would be somewhere on the Waterford coast. For those in Dublin I would highly recommend heading down to the Wicklow mountains. To get away from the light pollution and maximise your chances of seeing it

iPlop

I live in Wicklow beside the mountains ,just hope the clouds stay away, there's a possibility there might be some cloud cover on the east of the country.

derra

Beeker wrote: »

The Shuttle will be travelling at 17500mpph and at an altitude of about 68 miles and climbing.

It will already be in orbit at that stage but may need a small correction burn to finisise its orbit.

8:45 seconds.


Top speed is 17500mph {thats mach 25 or 5 miles per second}

Thanks Beeker, very obliging of ya.

The Incredible Fridge wrote: »

There may be some clouds over Wicklow, I hope theres not I can't wait too see this.

:eek::mad:
Banned for a week

e04bf0c8 wrote: »

For those of you wondering how your location in Ireland will affect your viewing chances there are a few things to consider.

The further south you are in the country the higher in the sky the shuttle will appear and as such will be brighter.

Also there will be very slightly less daylight the further south you go which you want as ideally you want the observer in darkness and the object in sunlight.

Also you have to consider light pollution. So somewhere outside a city or town is a lot more favourable.

And finally there is the weather!

So as you can see a lot of things have to come together at just the right time for something like this to happen. So it really is worth making the effort to see it.

My recommendation for the best view in Ireland would be somewhere on the Waterford coast. For those in Dublin I would highly recommend heading down to the Wicklow mountains. To get away from the light pollution and maximise your chances of seeing it

Fingers crossed it all works out, really can't wait to see this.

Cú Giobach

tricky D wrote: »

8ish minutes

Beeker wrote: »

8:45 seconds.

True, just over 8 mins to main engine cutoff, but if we take space as begining at 100kms [Karman Line], then that's only around 2mins 30secs away.
I can only get from my comfy chair to my front gate in that time.

iPlop

Which part of the sky are we meant to be looking? West? southwest? south?

clln

Cú Giobach wrote: »

True, just over 8 mins to main engine cutoff, but if we take space as begining at 100kms [Karman Line], then that's only around 2mins 30secs away.
I can only get from my comfy chair to my front gate in that time.

But Cu Giobach lets be even more pedantic about this, if one of the Main engines fails causing an Abort To Orbit it will pass over about a minute later!:pac::) (it happened once!)

Space shuttle Abort-to-Orbit during launch of Challenger on mission STS-51F,
i hasten to add this video is not of the Challenger disaster or i would not have posted it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Rz82mf01Yo.

They completed their miision despite the launch problem.

rccaulfield

derra wrote: »

Is it not 21:30-21:36 Beeker?
Stellarium seems to have it pass at that time.

Is that the free stellarium programme? I didn't know it had iss passes in it aswell if so? Out of interest any free software or reasnably priced software have comets/iss passes in it?

Chemistry Ftw

Hey, so what are the times for both the shuttle and the space station?

Sad Professor

Will we definitely be able to see this? It's getting dark now, but I was outside around 9 earlier and it was still very bright. According to NASA's site it will only be visible to us at 10.38pm.

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/cities/view.cgi?country=Ireland&region=None&city=Dublin

derra

rccaulfield wrote: »

Is that the free stellarium programme? I didn't know it had iss passes in it aswell if so? Out of interest any free software or reasnably priced software have comets/iss passes in it?

Yeah, in the Configuration window (F2). you will see Plugins Tab and choose Satellites.
And Ctrl+z turns Satellite hints on and off or us the icon on the bottom when you hover over the options you will see Satellite Hints.

flanzer

There's something in the sky in the south west as I look out my door, about a half ago, an orange fireball. Is it tonight we'll see it? Or tomorrow?

Could have be a chinese lantern too, so I want to rule it out!

lord lucan

flanzer wrote: »

There's something in the sky in the south west as I look out my door, about a half ago, an orange fireball. Is it tonight we'll see it? Or tomorrow?

Could have be a chinese lantern too, so I want to rule it out!

It's tomorrow night.:D

rccaulfield

derra wrote: »

Yeah, in the Configuration window (F2). you will see Plugins Tab and choose Satellites.
And Ctrl+z turns Satellite hints on and off or us the icon on the bottom when you hover over the options you will see Satellite Hints.

No i haven't that option in the icons at the bottom?- it is in the f2 menu but is dark grey and not a useable option?

derra

rccaulfield wrote: »

No i haven't that option in the icons at the bottom?- it is in the f2 menu but is dark grey and not a useable option?

Ok if i remember correctly, press F2, plugin and satellite and install the plugin for Zarya ISS then maybe you will be setup properly.

With a quick google i think you need version 0.10.6 of Stellarium.
Most likely you have 0.10.6 installed.

Definitely something simple to configure in F2 window anyway.

lolie

Sad Professor wrote: »

Will we definitely be able to see this? It's getting dark now, but I was outside around 9 earlier and it was still very bright. According to NASA's site it will only be visible to us at 10.38pm.

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/cities/view.cgi?country=Ireland&region=None&city=Dublin

I'd say its touch and go if we'll see it after launch tomorrow evening as the ISS pass earlier was at 9.06 (roughly the same time as the shuttle is due to fly over tomorrow eve) but it wasnt visible until halfway accross the sky, also its lower on the horizon which will still be fairly bright. God i hope im wrong:o

gman2k

Yeah, I was looking a the sky tonight at 9, and it was still very bright, there was no stars visible (I'm in the SE and generally away from light pollution)
I'd be very surprised if anything can be seen....

rccaulfield

derra wrote: »

Ok if i remember correctly, press F2, plugin and satellite and install the plugin for Zarya ISS then maybe you will be setup properly.

With a quick google i think you need version 0.10.6 of Stellarium.
Most likely you have 0.10.6 installed.

Definitely something simple to configure in F2 window anyway.

Thanks for your effort i had 10.5 so upgraded to version 10.6 but those options all look exactly the same? I'll keep plugging away!

derra

rccaulfield wrote: »

Thanks for your effort i had 10.5 so upgraded to version 10.6 but those options all look exactly the same? I'll keep plugging away!

After pressing F2, plugins,satellites....it does appear greyed out but you can tick "Load at Startup" on bottom no? or click the configure beside that ?

rccaulfield

derra wrote: »

Ok if i remember correctly, press F2, plugin and satellite and install the plugin for Zarya ISS then maybe you will be setup properly.

With a quick google i think you need version 0.10.6 of Stellarium.
Most likely you have 0.10.6 installed.

Definitely something simple to configure in F2 window anyway.

Got sorted Derra, just needed to click that box and restart the programme- thats a great upgrade! I'll pass on the good deed-Cheers man!

Beeker

gman2k wrote: »

Yeah, I was looking a the sky tonight at 9, and it was still very bright, there was no stars visible (I'm in the SE and generally away from light pollution)
I'd be very surprised if anything can be seen....

We should have a good chance of seeing it. True it would be better if it was a bit darker but I'm confident:eek::)

Chemistry Ftw wrote: »

Hey, so what are the times for both the shuttle and the space station?

Shuttle just after 21:05 and the station 21:30 - 21:36.

G-Money

Sorry for the newbie question, but will I be able to see this with the naked eye or do I need some sort of viewing equipment? Also, I live in an apartment and while I have a balcony, I can't really see "behind" the building so to speak, is there a particular direction I need to look?

Thanks.