Paging the space anoraks- Shuttle launch to be visible from UK

I found this in the Grauniad, and thought it may well justify
going outside for a few minutes:

"If the shuttle Atlantis launches to the ISS on time on the
27th, there should be a spectacular view of Atlantis and its
discarded external tank as they sweep over S England at 21:45
BST, give or take a few minutes."

Launch is currently scheduled for 16:30 (EST, I presume) on 27th
August.

Launches are constrained to times when the external tank can
separate in daylight, so they can photograph it for signs of
foam detatching. If they don't manage to launch on 27th August,
other opportunities extend to 7th September.

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060803aug27/

http://www.spaceflightnow.com will tell you if the launch
happens on time or not, giving 15 minutes or so to wander
outside.


--
<8P Wizard
Suzuki GS550 "I like that. Nicely shite" - TOG
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It's been delayed by a day due to a MoFo lightning strike.

 

Then further delayed because of a hurricane in the offing, and
they've now decided to put the shuttle back inside until the
hurricane risk goes.

"1041 GMT (6:41 a.m. EDT)

NASA officials have decided to proceed with rollback of space
shuttle Atlantis today because of the high wind and flying
debris threats posed by tropical storm Ernesto. One final review
of the situation will be made around 9 a.m. EDT, just before the
shuttle begins the four-mile trip back to the Vehicle Assembly
Building."

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/status.html


That means STS-115 will most likely lose all its
August/September launch opportunities. Next goes will be in
October. If those don't work out, all later planned missions
will suffer delays in a ripple effect.


For those sad enough to go out and watch the ISS passing over on
its own, this will be useful:

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/cities/region.cgi
?country=United_Kingdom&region=England

I've watched a couple of passages, and it's cool.

--
<8P Wizard
Suzuki GS550 "I like that. Nicely shite" - TOG
Mitsubishi Galant 1.8 GLS I
ANORAK#17b BOMB#19 BOTAFOT#138 BREast#5 COFF#24
COSOC#8 DFV#11 STG#1
Remove location from email address to reply

 

Blimey, Ascension Island has moved a bit.

Useful, ta.