RE: Brilliant Mir
Jeff Hunt (jhunt@radix.net)
Tue, 21 Oct 97 08:08:26
Hello,
My *guess* is that the source is from one or more of the solar arrays.
I don't recall any large highly reflective surfaces on Mir other than the
arrays. The four arrays on Spektr (at the time of the observation) are not
aligning to the Sun and may have presented an ideal reflective angle to the
observer. Following the internal EVA on Spektr yesterday, it is hoped that
two of three operational arrays on Spektr will start tracking the Sun in the
very near future once testing is completed.
Jeff Hunt <jhunt@radix.net>
http://www.satellite.eu.org/mir.html
--- On Tue, 21 Oct 1997 07:11:48 -0400 Bruno Tilgner
<Bruno_Tilgner@compuserve.com> wrote in part:
>The question remains open whether these strong reflections are caused by
the
>solar paddles (which are blue but flat and aligned) or the thermal
insulation
>of the station modules (which is white and reflective but curved).