Another Iridium Flare
MALEY, PAUL D. (paul.d.maley1@jsc.nasa.gov)
Thu, 25 Sep 1997 07:58:01 -0500
Last night I observed another whopper flare this time from Iridium 14.
This flare seems to have occurred at roughly the same elevation and
azimuth as the one reported by Ed Cannon 2 evenings ago, though the sun
was lower here. The data is:
NORAD date time Dir al el aM eM aS eS Phs Dur Mag
Obs COSPAR
24836 97-09-25 01:43:42 S 130 50 84 58 269 -43 37 6 -6
PDM 97030A
The Phs is from Quicksat.
To anyone developing a flare prediction program, it would be also
worthwhile to note that Iridium 13 brightened only slightly to 3.5 at
about the same azimuth as the Iridium 14 flare when it passed the area 8
minutes earlier; elevation was 33, azimuth 130.
Regarding the number of main mission antennas, the drawing I have does
show 3 antennas instead of 4. The antennas are positioned 90 degrees
apart in the forward and both side directions. The trailing direction
does not seem to have an antenna. I will attempt to verify if there is a
4th antenna.
Paul D. Maley
DO5/Cargo Operations
NASA Johnson Space Center
Houston TX 77058 USA
phone: 281-244-0208
fax: 281-244-7622
email: paul.d.maley1@jsc.nasa.gov
latitude 29.5378 north; longitude 95.0868 west; altitude 6 m