"James Oberg" wrote:
George, here's the secret advantage: any stuff coming off the Orbiter all
tends to 'cluster' ahead of and below it, as differential drag drops it into
lower faster orbits. Then you look for it, once a rev, at sunset, against
the dark Earth background. MCC runs the camera, the crew isn't even
involved.

Which is nice if there is a camera which can look in that general
direction available, but that's not guaranteed as the shuttle orbital
attitude varies.

And regarding +Z (out-the-belly views), the ET sep camera, in the belly,
is being rewired to allow imagery to reach the crew cabin.

When are those doors closed?

D.
--
The STS-107 Columbia Loss FAQ can be found
at the following URLs:

Text-Only Version:
http://www.io.com/~o_m/columbia_loss_faq.html

Enhanced HTML Version:
http://www.io.com/~o_m/columbia_loss_faq_x.html

Corrections, comments, and additions should be
e-mailed to , as well as posted to
sci.space.history and sci.space.shuttle for
discussion.