Jonathan T. Wojack, tlj18@juno.com asks >How small can a satellite be and be observed with binoculars during >burnup in the Earth's atmosphere? I agree with Ron Lee that even an object much smaller than 0.61 M^2 could produce a bright decay event. When I hesitated to include #603 (63- 22 B = Transit 5A3 Scout X-3 r) in my Decay Watch list, it was because I was uncertain whether SpaceCom would issue notices for it. I aim to mirror SpaceCom in this regard and my understanding is that SpaceCom normally issues decay warnings only for objects with an RCS of 1m^2 or more. I believe that SpaceCom's prime concern is in any possible ground impact of debris from the decay, and that the reasoning is that objects smaller than 1m^2 have little chance of surviving re-entry. Alan -- Alan Pickup | COSPAR 2707: 55d53m48.7s N 3d11m51.2s W 156m asl Edinburgh | Tel: +44 (0)131 477 9144 Fax: +44 (0)870 0520750 Scotland | SatEvo page: http://www.wingar.demon.co.uk/satevo/ ----------------------------------------------------------------- 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
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