Spy satellite fireworks and a lunar eclipse

[Skeptic Ginger]

From http://www.spaceweather.com/

SPY-SAT UPDATE: Rumor has it that the US Navy may make its first attempt to hit USA 193 this Wednesday evening as the satellite passes over the Pacific Ocean. An air traffic advisory warns pilots to avoid a patch of ocean near Maui from 4:30 pm to 7:00 pm Hawaii time on Feb. 20th (0230 - 0500 UT, Feb. 21st). This would center the missile strike on Wednesday's lunar eclipse and possibly render reentering debris visible from the North American west coast. Remember, it's just a rumor!

Pacific time is 2 hours later than HI so that's between 6:30 and 9 pm. The moon is entirely in the Earth's shadow from 7:01 to 7:51 p.m. pacific time as well.

 

[Timothy]

The location makes logistical sense ... confirmation of the strike and validation of the amount of damage is a mission requirement. The instrumentation used by MSSS (Maui Space Surveillance System) at the AMOS (Air Force Maui Optical and Supercomputing) observatory on the summit of Haleakala is perfect for observing the strike and breakup in both the visible and the infrared. The complement of telescopes existing at the time (one 1.6-m, and two 1.2-m telescopes) was used in 1990 to observe the reentry of the Shuttle External Tank from STS-31 as it broke up and plunged into the Pacific. I had a chance to see this spectacular reentry from Kihei.

While still a rumor, it does make sense to have the strike be where it can be viewed by high-resolution optical instrumentation.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

Darn darn darn. So we went out at 7, me and the dogs. Walked and sky watched until a little after 8, gave up, came back and the news says we didn't wait long enough. Grrrrr.


But the dogs had a great time. Lots more smells of little critters at might.