Starshine 3 reentry update

From: Matson, Robert (ROBERT.D.MATSON@saic.com)
Date: Wed Jan 15 2003 - 17:46:47 EST

  • Next message: Tony Beresford: "Corrected jan 15 obs"

    Hi All,
    
    An update on the STARSHINE 3 upcoming decay.  The reentry window has
    narrowed considerably in the last 24 hours.  I'm now assuming it will
    occur sometime between 20 January 15:00 UT and 21 January 21:00 UT.
    This leaves only 6 passes that intersect the continental U.S. --
    three ascending, three descending.  (There is a 7th pass at the
    beginning of the window just off the coast of California).  Here's
    a summary of these possibilities (all times Universal):
    
    Pass 1:  Jan 21 02:20 ascending pass begins over Florida, continuing
    to southeastern Georgia, the Carolinas, Virginia, D.C., Maryland,
    eastern Pennsylvania, eastern New York, and the northwest tip of
    Vermont.  The whole pass takes about 4 1/2 minutes.
    
    Pass 2:  Jan 21 03:48 ascending pass begins near El Paso, Texas,
    continuing to Oklahoma panhandle, Kansas, Nebraska, the southeast
    tip of South Dakota and right through the heart of Minnesota before
    crossing into Canada around 03:53:30.
    
    Pass 3:  Jan 21 05:18:30 ascending pass begins in San Francisco,
    heads over the intersection of CA/Nevada/Oregon, across eastern
    Oregon, northern Idaho and western Montana before crossing into
    Canada at 05:21:30.
    
    [In my opinion, reentry has the best chance of occurring on this
    pass based on present data.]
    
    Pass 4:  Jan 21 11:32:30 descending pass begins in western New York
    south of Buffalo, crosses central Pennsylvania, central Maryland,
    close to D.C., the Chesapeake Bay and finally the Delmarva peninsula
    at 11:34.
    
    Pass 5:  Jan 21 12:58:00 descending pass begins in eastern Montana,
    heading on to western South Dakota, Nebraska, central Kansas, central
    Oklahoma, eastern Texas, crossing into the Gulf of Mexico right at
    the Texas/Louisiana border at around 13:04.
    
    Pass 6:  Jan 21 14:28:00 descending pass begins over southern coast
    of Oregon, and heads down the length of California and over Los
    Angeles at ~14:30 and San Diego less than 30 seconds later.
    
    For those in Hawai'i, there are three passes over or near the islands.
    The first is a descending pass around 18:01 UT on January 20 just to
    the west of Kaua'i.  The second is an ascending pass around 6:41 UT on
    January 21 just to the southeast of the Big Island.  Of the three, this
    is the most likely reentry pass.  The third pass is descending at
    07:29-07:30 UT over Maui and the Big Island.
    
    Cheers,
    Rob
    
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