20 December 2007

Observing Location	Chief Dennis L Devlin Park, Bronx, NY
Observational Period	1245-1300 EST
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Scattered Clouds Temperature 42°F Wind Light Breeze gusting to Gentle Breeze Humidity Moderate Barometric Pressure 30.13" Hg Falling Feels Like Very comfortable It is sunny and reels like a late fall/early spring day. The ice is melting. Transparency Good Seeing II
Instruments	Brunton 8x21 compact binocular w/Welco gold shade 14 welder's filter - Charlie
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Target Sunspots Constellation Sgr Category Solar Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20071220.1245 EST Comments Distance Light Time .0984 AU 8m 11s Angular Size 32' 35.1" Altitude 25.4° Heliographic Latitude (B0) -1.58° Heliographic Longitude (L0) 109.47° Position Angle (P) 7.70° Carrington rotation number (CR) 2064 The only group, 978, is currently on the back side of the Sun so there is nothing to see.   Groups Spots R North 0 0 0 South 0 0 0 Total 0 0 0 R = (Groups * 10) + Spots)

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Somebody in Washington appears to be thinking. A comgresman is going to propose that NASA receive additional funding to keep the Space Shuttle fleet flying between 2010, when it is supposed to be retired, and 2015, which is when the Crew Expedition Vehicle is supposed to make its first flight. If this comes to pass it will mean that the US will not be dependant on other countries to get men up to the ISS and it should lessen pressure on NASA to get flights off the ground in order to complete construction of the ISS before 2010.

Also on Space.com is an story saying that after five years of shuttle launch delays due to sensors failures (see daisy-chained stories in the links) NASA has finally traced the problem, at least on the current ET, to a faulty feed-through connector. It seems the female connector on the outside of the tank is not the same size as the mail part attached to the tank to which it is mated. No word yet on whose fault it is or if NASA will try to recoup expenses for delayed launches if it is a contractor issue.

NASA graphics: A huge 3D cutaway view of the ET

I haven't been able to locate a NASA image of the problem connector but did find a graphic of a generic feed-through connector.

I suspect that what we are talking about is something like this, except that it is made of glass.

In the links in that article I found one that gives the earlies launch time for the Shuttle. I had projected a 10Jan08 launch time of 0237 EST based on the launch time being advanced 23 minutes for each day the launch is delayed. The article gives the launch time as 2026:10. A quick look says it looks like the advancement is around 23.5 minutes/day.

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Observing Location	Olmstead Ave @ Benedict Ave, Bronx, NY Lat.: 40° 50' 4.07" Long: -73° 51' 17.96"
Observational Period	1745-1800
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Broken Clouds Temperature 41°F Wind Light Breeze Humidity Moderate Barometric Pressure 30.18" Hg Rising Feels Like Raw When I was out an hour ago it was mostly clear with some stratus clouds low on the horizon to the north. Now it is approaching overcast with stratocumulus. There are still some gaps in the clouds and I can see Cas which is where the satellite will appear. It feels like the humidity has also increased. Transparency Poor Seeing
Instruments	Naked-eye - Charlie
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Target Iridium 86 Flare Constellation Per & Cam Category Satellite Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20071220.1750 EST Comments This is the first time I have ever been cognizant of an Iridium satellite flaring twice on the same pass so I was interested in seeing it. Not that it will look any different from two different satellites flaring. It is just the idea of it. The first flare was supposed to take place in Cas and the second one 20.9° away in Cam. By the time of the first flare there was very little clear sky left and there was a big cloud covering the area below the Queen so I missed both flares. Time Alt. Az. Con. Mag Surface 1750:46 EST 54.7° 44.6° Per -2.3 left antenna 1751:45 EST 38.9° 24.4° Cam -1.6 solar panel When I plugged the data into Planetarium I found that the first flare was actually in Perseus rather than Cassiopeia as CalSky had indicated. Admittedly it was very low in the border between the two constellations, but it meant that I was looking too high in the sky, but Perseus was well in the clouds by then anyway.

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Observing Location	Parkchester Branch Library, Westchester Ave near Pugsley Ave, Bronx, NY Lat.: 40° 50' 0.85" Long: -73° 51' 30.32"
Observational Period	1810-1825 EST
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Overcast Temperature 41°F Wind Light Breeze Humidity Moderate Barometric Pressure 30.22" Hg Rising Feels Like Raw Conditions have continued to deteriorate. Now there are only a couple of places where the clouds are thin and dark where the sky is showing through but it is basically overcast. Transparency Nil Seeing
Instruments	Naked-eye - Charlie
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Target ISS (in)Visible Pass Constellation Category Satellite Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20071220.1816 EST Comments Not Seen   Time Alt. Az. Mag. Begins 1816:20 EST horizon 300.3° 0.8 Max. Alt. 1821:04 EST 38.4° 221.0° -2.8 Ends 1821:22 37.0  204.6 -3.0