Somewhat OT, but: Anyone on the list care to estimate what the visual magnitude of a golf ball would be if in a parallel orbit with the ISS? How long to decay? CBC (state radio) in Canada reported last night on an upstart Toronto-based golf equipment manufacturer (Element 21) that is arranging to have a ball, club and special tee sent up to ISS for "the longest drive in history" during an EVA this summer. Only an expensive advertising stunt, of course. The interview had some questionable technical details, including the ball staying in orbit for "two to four years..." and it travelling "at least a billion miles...". By my quick math, I think it would take >6 years to go that far around the Earth. Any idea on how quickly such a low-weight to surface-area object would decay? I find it hard to believe it could stay up for years. I realise the drive could give it some delta-v, but I am guessing that the 10 to 20 m/s that a space-suited golfer could give it would not substantially change its orbit. In any event, likely very hard to observe. Back to lurking under horribly bright Montreal skies... -Tyler ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe/Unsubscribe info, Frequently Asked Questions, SeeSat-L archive: http://www.satobs.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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