28 December 2007

Observing Location	PSC
Observational Period	1400-1415 EST
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Hazy Temperature 48°F Wind Light Breeze Humidity Moderate Feels Like Very Mild and Pleasant There is no visible cloud but the sky is not blye and through the binocular I can see variations in the density of the atmosphere between the Sun and me. Transparency Fair Seeing I
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 20071228.1400 EST Comments Distance Light Time 0.983 AU 8m 11s Angular Size 32'34.9" Altitude 20.6° Heliographic Latitude (B0) -2.56° Heliographic Longitude (L0) 3.40° Position Angle (P) 3.90° Carrington rotation number (CR) 2064 Nothing seen.   Groups Spots R North 0 0 0 South 0 0 0 Total 0 0 0 R = (Groups * 10) + Spots)

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The BBC today posted an article speculating that the launch os Atlantis with the ESA Columbus module may not take place until late January or sometime in February. It appears that NASA hasn't identified the problem with the ECO sensors and they are trying to juggle the Atlantis launch with the launch of the ESA Jules Verne automated cargo transport vehicle. Jules Verne has to be up there before the two Shuttle flights after STS-122 can launch. Jules Verne can launch and go somehwere and hang out while Atlantis is at the ISS and then dock afterward. But NASA still has to get the sensor problem fixed.

Meanwhile, in another news source, NASA said yesterday that they are going to try to resolve the sensor problem by cutting off the connector that mates to the outside of the pass-through connector and soldering the wires directly to it. I don't see any indication that they are sure that the problem is on the outside of the tank though.

NASA's Shuttle splash page says that a 10Jan08 launch is out of the question but, since they don't know how long it will take to solder the pins, reapply the foam, and test the repair, they don't have a new target launch date.