Hello Everyone. Last April I received an observation request from one of the controllers of Sunsat: http://www2.satellite.eu.org/seesat/Apr-2000/0085.html The following is an e-mail that I received today: ------------------------------------------------------------- Sunsat is currently in a dawn-dusk orbit. It experienced a sharp increase in temperature since entering permanent sunlight. To counter this, we flipped the satellite over, pointing its top plate roughly towards earth and the bottom plate (a better radiator) towards cold space. We also spun the satellite up around its z-axis to tilt the top plate towards the sun by about 20 degrees. The top plate is covered by highly reflective metal foil to protect sensitive instruments. It is by far the most reflective surface on Sunsat (although not as flat as the solar panels). Since it is now pointed towards earth and the sun, I believe that Sunsat should be more visible than before. However, due to light pollution and bad weather over the last few weeks, I have been unable to confirm this. I would love to receive your diagnosis, if such observations fits in your schedule. ------------------------------------------------------------- At 40 deg N latitude it is not in a good position for me to observe. It passes in the west too soon after sunset for a reasonable chance to see it. O thers on the list may have a better opportunity. Cheers Don Gardner 39.1799 N, 76.8406 W, 100m ASL Homepage: http://hometown.aol.com/mir16609/ ----------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe from SeeSat-L by sending a message with 'unsubscribe' in the SUBJECT to SeeSat-L-request@lists.satellite.eu.org http://www2.satellite.eu.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Sat Jul 22 2000 - 13:31:52 PDT