A Space & astronomy forum. SpaceBanter.com

Go Back   Home » SpaceBanter.com forum » Astronomy and Astrophysics » Satellites
Site Map Home Authors List Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read Web Partners

Titan IV rocket launch may be visible along east coast of N.A.



 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old April 29th 05, 07:14 AM
Ted Molczan
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Titan IV rocket launch may be visible along east coast of N.A.

A Titan IV rocket is scheduled to lift-off from Cape Canaveral on 2005 Apr
30 at 00:50 UTC (Apr 29 at 20:50 EDT). The duration of the launch window has
not been announced.

This will be the final Titan IV launch from Cape Canaveral, and its
trajectory will head north east, along the east coast of North America.

The rocket's trajectory is secret, but their is a good chance that it will
be readily visible to the unaided eye. I have cooked up some trajectory data
to aid in spotting it.

Rocket scientists likely would have a good laugh at my estimates, but I hope
that they will be sufficient to provide a rough idea of when and where to
look. However, if I guessed wrong, it may be far from the predicted path, or
not seen at all.

The following Excel spreadsheet computes the vehicle's azimuth and elevation
during the ascent to orbit:

http://satobs.org/seesat_ref/B-30/Ti...ook_angles.xls

All you need do is enter the lift-off time, and your latitude and longitude.
As downloaded, the file contains the latitude and longitude of Washington,
D.C., which you should replace with your latitude and longitude.

The spreadsheet computes azimuth and elevation at 10 s time intervals.
Azimuth is in degrees, clockwise from due north. Elevation is in degrees
above the horizon. Negative values of elevation indicate that the vehicle is
below the horizon.

The trajectory data begins at T+2:30, about the time that the solid rocket
motors burn out.

Observers who have seen Shuttle night-time ascents along the east coast,
should not expect the Titan IV's exhaust to be as bright.

For about 3 min after SRB burnout, the T-IVB's 1st stage will produce about
550,000 pounds of thrust - about one third the total output of a shuttle's
main engines.

The T-IVB's 2nd stage ignites for nearly 4 min; however, it produces a
little over 100,000 pounds of thrust - about 7 percent the total output of a
shuttle's main engines.

Assuming lift-off occurs near the scheduled time, the vehicle may be
illuminated by sunlight for some portion of its ascent, which should make it
easy to spot with the unaided eye. It could reach magnitude 1 or brighter.

I estimate that it will climb out of Earth's shadow at about T+3:30. How
long it remains in sunlight depends on how high it climbs. Since its
trajectory and planned orbit are secret, I can only guess.

I based the ascent trajectory on one of several possible target orbits,
specifically, that of a Lacrosse radar imaging satellite, inclined 57 deg,
and 425 X 671 km. An ascent trajectory bound for that orbit, would remain
illuminated throughout the powered ascent, after exiting the shadow at about
T+3:30.

In the event that the target orbit is much lower, then the vehicle may
re-enter the shadow before the end of the powered ascent, in which case the
vehicle would be illuminated only by its exhaust, which may not be visible
with the unaided eye.

Happy hunting!
Ted Molczan


  #2  
Old April 30th 05, 02:33 AM
Stephen Fels
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default


"Ted Molczan" wrote in message
...
A Titan IV rocket is scheduled to lift-off from Cape Canaveral on 2005 Apr
30 at 00:50 UTC (Apr 29 at 20:50 EDT). The duration of the launch window
has not been announced.


I happened to see it by chance, as I was pulling into my neighborhood. For a
moment, it looked like an amber streetlight was casting a streak across my
windshield. As I faced east, I pulled over and rolled down the window, to
get a better look. The flame looked very yellow and seemed to have a lot
more "sparkle" than a shuttle launch. I could just make out the smoke
column, which appeared to arc right-to-left (northerly).

Then, the flame changed to a blue-white and separated into three stacked,
intense, white dots. After several seconds, the two lower spots dimmed,
turned red and showed signs of tumbling (winking in and out). I watched the
third spot, until it faded from view.

By coincidence, the radio station I was listening to had received a call
earlier in the evening, that got them talking about aliens. They were
talking about the scene in Signs, with the birthday party, when people
started calling in about the rocket "sighting".
--
Stephen
Home Page: stephmon.com
Satellite Hunting: sathunt.com


 




Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Space Calendar - June 25, 2004 Ron Astronomy Misc 0 June 25th 04 04:37 PM
Space Calendar - May 28, 2004 Ron History 0 May 28th 04 04:03 PM
Space Calendar - April 30, 2004 Ron Misc 0 April 30th 04 03:55 PM
Space Calendar - February 27, 2004 Ron Astronomy Misc 1 February 27th 04 08:18 PM
Space Calendar - January 27, 2004 Ron Astronomy Misc 7 January 29th 04 10:29 PM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 04:47 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 SpaceBanter.com.
The comments are property of their posters.