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ISS-Shuttle visibility?
Earth orbiting satellites like the ISS and Shuttle are normally seen in
reflected sunlight above the earth's terminator (shadow) while it's night on the ground. However I was watching the NASA channel the other day and I realized how much artificial lighting is now used on the outside of those two spacecraft when they are not in sunlight. This is mainly to improve the visibility for the crew, particularly during a spacewalk. This got me to wondering if anyone has ever seen the ISS or Shuttle pass over at night when they were *not* in sunlight? IOW- Is the artificial lighting on the outside of either spacecraft bright enough to be seen from the ground? Regards |
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ISS-Shuttle visibility?
In article zpnGj.664$sR1.636@trndny08, Flyguy wrote:
Earth orbiting satellites like the ISS and Shuttle are normally seen in reflected sunlight above the earth's terminator (shadow) while it's night on the ground. However I was watching the NASA channel the other day and I realized how much artificial lighting is now used on the outside of those two spacecraft when they are not in sunlight. This is mainly to improve the visibility for the crew, particularly during a spacewalk. This got me to wondering if anyone has ever seen the ISS or Shuttle pass over at night when they were *not* in sunlight? IOW- Is the artificial lighting on the outside of either spacecraft bright enough to be seen from the ground? Well, I'm not sure what I've seen, but I did observe something unusual in regards to the light coming from these two in orbit. This was not the latest shuttle flight that I'm referring to, the one prior. I normally watch them every evening flyover as weather allows, and their appearance has always been consistant. However, on one evening, I witnessed a very bright flash of light coming from the ISS/shuttle. It was almost as if it was flaring like an Iridium, and it could have very well been a reflection from perhaps an antenna that was being deployed, etc. What I saw was maybe 5-6 fairly fast, and very bright pulses of bluish-white light, and then the normal two objects continue on. The flashes came at about the first 1/3 of the pass. So, I don't know if this was artificial, or a reflection, but it was impressive!! d. |
#3
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ISS-Shuttle visibility?
On Mar 26, 4:01 am, Flyguy wrote:
Earth orbiting satellites like the ISS and Shuttle are normally seen in reflected sunlight above the earth's terminator (shadow) while it's night on the ground. However I was watching the NASA channel the other day and I realized how much artificial lighting is now used on the outside of those two spacecraft when they are not in sunlight. This is mainly to improve the visibility for the crew, particularly during a spacewalk. This got me to wondering if anyone has ever seen the ISS or Shuttle pass over at night when they were *not* in sunlight? IOW- Is the artificial lighting on the outside of either spacecraft bright enough to be seen from the ground? There have been quite a few observations of shuttles while they were completely within Earth's shadow. Here are some examples reported via SeeSat-L: http://satobs.org/seesat/Jan-1996/0077.html http://satobs.org/seesat/Jan-1996/0219.html http://satobs.org/seesat/Oct-2000/0146.html http://satobs.org/seesat/Oct-2000/0180.html http://satobs.org/seesat/Dec-2000/0050.html http://satobs.org/seesat/Dec-2002/0000.html Ted Molczan |
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