Visual Observation of STS-71

I observed STS-71 with the naked eye on June 27 from 21h26m18s UTC
until shadow entry. Maximum brightness was magnitude +1 (about as bright
as Spica). Observing site: Saarbruecken-Bischmisheim, Germany
I watched the launch live on CNN International (rather poor coverage).
 
Earlier this year I observed DISCOVERY (on its way to MIR) and the ET
22 minutes after launch with the naked eye. The Shuttle had a yellowish
and the ET had a reddish colour.
 
Last year in November I saw the Shuttle (+ ET) during its first orbit, too.
Inclination was 57 deg. Due to the different colours the two objects
looked like an aeroplane! Only later I noticed that I had actually seen
the Shuttle.
 
Regards,
Patrick
 
P.S.:
There are still neither any TLE nor any vectors for STS-71 on OIG RBBS.
Very disappointing!
Received on Wed Jun 28 1995 - 09:32:32 UTC