8 August 2007

Observing Location	Pier 17, New York, NY
Observational Period	1700-1900 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Scattered Temperature 89°F Wind Calm Humidity Moderate Feels Like Very hot and close There are clouds on the horizon all around but it appears clear with some haze overhead. The heat and humidity are oppressive making it feel a lot hotter than it is. Transparency Fair Seeing I
Instruments	Brunton 8x21 compact binocular - Charlie
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Target STS-118 Launch Constellation Category Satellite Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070808.1836 EDT Comments NASA delayed the launch of the Shuttle a day due to a cabin pressure leak and that advanced the launch time by 48 minutes placing it even earlier in the day than initially scheduled. I arrived at Pier 17 early and hooked up to the free Wi-Fi in the food court to watch the end of the countdown. When the came out of the T-9:00:00 built-in hold I shut down and moved outside. It was nearly two hours to sunset when the Shuttle launched and flew by NYC which made it nearly impossible to spot it unless you knew exact coordinates. Even that probably wouldn’t have helped much since the horizon was covered with clouds and haze. I looked well past launch time in case there was a late hold but didn’t see anything.

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Observing Location	TotL
Observational Period	2100-2200 EDT
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Scattered Clouds Temperature 88°F Wind Calm gusting to Light Breeze Humidity Moderate Feels Like Very opressive It felt hot just sitting on a park bench. The occasional breezes weren’t bad but were too occasional. The heavy rain had washed a lot of dirt out of the ball fields onto the walk and there were lots of flies around tonight but no mosquitoes. The low sky was still obscured with clouds and/or haze but it looked pretty clear at zenith. Transparency Fair Seeing
Instruments	Naked Eye
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Target ISS Visible Pass Constellation UMa, Lyn, Cam Category Satellite Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20070808.21 EDT Comments Not Seen There was supposed to have been an ISS visible pass tonight and I figured that the Shuttle would pass by either before or after it but hadn’t found any data on that when I went outside to try to observe the launch so started watching 10 minutes before the ISS pass and continued watching for 10 minutes after it. The schmutz was just too dense down that low for even the ISS to burn through it. Object Pass Phase EDT Alt. Az. Mag. ISS Begins 21:42:53 10° NNW 5.1 Culminates 21:43:57 11° N 1.1 Ends 21:45:00 10° NNE 1.9 STS-118 Begins 21:50:09 10° NNW 4.4 Culminates 21:50:34 10° N 2.1 Ends 21:50:58 10° N 2.1 There is another ISS pass in about 90 minutes but it is only a second or two in duration and at the same altitude so I am not staying to watch it.