Re: Why do people look at satellites?

From: Skywayinc@aol.com
Date: Fri Sep 09 2011 - 14:51:49 UTC

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    In a message dated 9/8/2011 4:35:49 P.M. Eastern  Daylight Time, 
    roger.in.eugene@gmail.com writes:
    
    Just wondering, what's  the reason some of you watch satellites, work
    related?  Purely  hobbiest?
    
    
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    Back  in the 1960's, the Hayden Planetarium in New York had a telephone
    service  called "Dial-a-Satellite" (TR-3-0404) in which you could call each 
    day to get  the
    latest details on the visible passes of the Echo satellites.  I used  to 
    ring up
    quite a phone bill sometimes in getting the details.  It was  quite 
    addictive.  
    
    I can still remember, verbatim, the explanation  leading into the viewing 
    schedule:
    
    "Satellite information is based on  calculations from the Smithsonian 
    Astrophysical
    Observatory in Cambridge,  Massachusetts.  Times are for the satellite's 
    highest
    point of passage,  but they may be seen for a few minutes both before and 
    after
    the times  given."
    
    I also remember getting details on a barium cloud launch from  Wallops 
    Island in
    March 1967 from dialing that phone number.  And for  about a week
    in late October 1965, the satellite information was suspended in  favor of 
    providing
    viewing details for Comet Ikeya-Seki.  Dr. Thomas  Nicholson later wrote in 
    the
    February 1966 issue of Natural History magazine  that while 
    Dial-a-Satellite usually
    received about 100 calls per day, during  the week that the comet info was 
    being
    provided the number of calls shot up  to about 1,000 per day!
    
    -- joe rao     
    
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