Westbound Satellite?

Al Gerharter wrote:

Are there any westbound satellites? Why? It sure looked like a satellite,
and it was certainly westbound. I'm in Roseburg, Oregon, 43 7.40, 123 26.78,
and this was Friday eve. 9:00pdt or 04:00 zulu.

I have never heard of a westbound satellite for obvious Delta V reasons.
I am an airline pilot, and am better than average at recognizing aircraft.
Anyone have any thoughts?

East to west sats are rare, and I have only ever seen one.

--
Larry Brash

Al Gerharter wrote:

Are there any westbound satellites? Why? It sure looked like a satellite,
and it was certainly westbound. I'm in Roseburg, Oregon, 43 7.40, 123 26.78,
and this was Friday eve. 9:00pdt or 04:00 zulu.

I have never heard of a westbound satellite for obvious Delta V reasons.
I am an airline pilot, and am better than average at recognizing aircraft.
Anyone have any thoughts?

East to west sats are rare, and I have only ever seen one.

--
Larry Brash

Ok, so I'm not nuts. Why would they do that? In a 90 minute orbit, the earth
moves 22 degrees, maybe they get a quicker update on a geographic location,
say 70 minutes instead of 90.

This one was higher than the shuttle, I assume, due to a slower angular
velocity. Maybe about the same rate as the station. No flash, real bright.
Who can launch westbound? Vandenburg & Sea Launch? Al Gerharter


"Larry Brash" wrote in message
...
Al Gerharter wrote:

Are there any westbound satellites? Why? It sure looked like a
satellite,
and it was certainly westbound. I'm in Roseburg, Oregon, 43 7.40, 123
26.78,
and this was Friday eve. 9:00pdt or 04:00 zulu.

I have never heard of a westbound satellite for obvious Delta V
reasons.
I am an airline pilot, and am better than average at recognizing
aircraft.
Anyone have any thoughts?

East to west sats are rare, and I have only ever seen one.

--
Larry Brash

Ok, so I'm not nuts. Why would they do that? In a 90 minute orbit, the earth
moves 22 degrees, maybe they get a quicker update on a geographic location,
say 70 minutes instead of 90.

This one was higher than the shuttle, I assume, due to a slower angular
velocity. Maybe about the same rate as the station. No flash, real bright.
Who can launch westbound? Vandenburg & Sea Launch? Al Gerharter


"Larry Brash" wrote in message
...
Al Gerharter wrote:

Are there any westbound satellites? Why? It sure looked like a
satellite,
and it was certainly westbound. I'm in Roseburg, Oregon, 43 7.40, 123
26.78,
and this was Friday eve. 9:00pdt or 04:00 zulu.

I have never heard of a westbound satellite for obvious Delta V
reasons.
I am an airline pilot, and am better than average at recognizing
aircraft.
Anyone have any thoughts?

East to west sats are rare, and I have only ever seen one.

--
Larry Brash

Westbound satellites may be seen, especially at high latitudes. Seasat 1 has
an inclination of 108 degrees and would be passing straight overhead from
East to West at northern latitudes of 72 degrees +/- ca. 5 degrees.

I could not find any satellite on Heavens-Above matching your observation.

Christian

On 08.09.2003 22:01, in article
, "Al Gerharter"
wrote:

Are there any westbound satellites? Why? It sure looked like a satellite,
and it was certainly westbound. I'm in Roseburg, Oregon, 43 7.40, 123 26.78,
and this was Friday eve. 9:00pdt or 04:00 zulu.

I have never heard of a westbound satellite for obvious Delta V reasons.
I am an airline pilot, and am better than average at recognizing aircraft.
Anyone have any thoughts?

Westbound satellites may be seen, especially at high latitudes. Seasat 1 has
an inclination of 108 degrees and would be passing straight overhead from
East to West at northern latitudes of 72 degrees +/- ca. 5 degrees.

I could not find any satellite on Heavens-Above matching your observation.

Christian

On 08.09.2003 22:01, in article
, "Al Gerharter"
wrote:

Are there any westbound satellites? Why? It sure looked like a satellite,
and it was certainly westbound. I'm in Roseburg, Oregon, 43 7.40, 123 26.78,
and this was Friday eve. 9:00pdt or 04:00 zulu.

I have never heard of a westbound satellite for obvious Delta V reasons.
I am an airline pilot, and am better than average at recognizing aircraft.
Anyone have any thoughts?

In message , Larry Brash
writes
Al Gerharter wrote:

Are there any westbound satellites? Why? It sure looked like a satellite,
and it was certainly westbound. I'm in Roseburg, Oregon, 43 7.40, 123 26.78,
and this was Friday eve. 9:00pdt or 04:00 zulu.

I have never heard of a westbound satellite for obvious Delta V reasons.
I am an airline pilot, and am better than average at recognizing aircraft.
Anyone have any thoughts?

East to west sats are rare, and I have only ever seen one.

Sun-synchronous satellites have an inclination of about 98 degrees so
would be going west of north on the "upward" part of the orbit, but
AFAIK the only true W-to-E satellites are the Israeli spysats.
Unless it wasn't one of ours :-) There were reports of earth-orbiting
meteoroids during the 1950s but I don't know of any recent ones.
--
"Forty millions of miles it was from us, more than forty millions of miles of
void"

In message , Larry Brash
writes
Al Gerharter wrote:

Are there any westbound satellites? Why? It sure looked like a satellite,
and it was certainly westbound. I'm in Roseburg, Oregon, 43 7.40, 123 26.78,
and this was Friday eve. 9:00pdt or 04:00 zulu.

I have never heard of a westbound satellite for obvious Delta V reasons.
I am an airline pilot, and am better than average at recognizing aircraft.
Anyone have any thoughts?

East to west sats are rare, and I have only ever seen one.

Sun-synchronous satellites have an inclination of about 98 degrees so
would be going west of north on the "upward" part of the orbit, but
AFAIK the only true W-to-E satellites are the Israeli spysats.
Unless it wasn't one of ours :-) There were reports of earth-orbiting
meteoroids during the 1950s but I don't know of any recent ones.
--
"Forty millions of miles it was from us, more than forty millions of miles of
void"

Al Gerharter wrote:

Are there any westbound satellites? Why? It sure looked like a satellite,
and it was certainly westbound.

There are some satellites in retrograde orbit. During the Sixties
the Air Force had the "Orbiting Vehicle" project which carried small
satellites aboard Atlas ICBMs launched westward from Vandenberg AFB
(as well as small subsatellites carried aboard normal satellite
launchers). The ICBMs were launched westward and had almost enough
velocity to reach orbit; someone realized that they could carry
self-contained pods with a solid booster rocket and a standardized
satellite bus. This gave space access to projects which weren't
considered major enough to rate a separate launch.

Some of the OV-1 series are still in orbit with an inclination
of about 144 degrees. You can find them on heavens-above.com;
click on their "Select a satellite" button and enter OV% in
the satellite name box.

The Israelis have also launched several satellites, which for
obvious reasons have to head west. However none of these
"Ofeq" are currently in orbit.

--Bill Thompson

Al Gerharter wrote:

Are there any westbound satellites? Why? It sure looked like a satellite,
and it was certainly westbound.

There are some satellites in retrograde orbit. During the Sixties
the Air Force had the "Orbiting Vehicle" project which carried small
satellites aboard Atlas ICBMs launched westward from Vandenberg AFB
(as well as small subsatellites carried aboard normal satellite
launchers). The ICBMs were launched westward and had almost enough
velocity to reach orbit; someone realized that they could carry
self-contained pods with a solid booster rocket and a standardized
satellite bus. This gave space access to projects which weren't
considered major enough to rate a separate launch.

Some of the OV-1 series are still in orbit with an inclination
of about 144 degrees. You can find them on heavens-above.com;
click on their "Select a satellite" button and enter OV% in
the satellite name box.

The Israelis have also launched several satellites, which for
obvious reasons have to head west. However none of these
"Ofeq" are currently in orbit.

--Bill Thompson