Month: November 2008
Today the US Will Make History: The Choice
This is probably slightly out of the scope of Astroengine.com, but having already made my feelings very clear about Obama’s stance on NASA and the McCain/Palin camp’s inability to understand science, so what the hell. Is there really a choice? In my view there is only one logical, ethical, intelligent and sensible choice. Let’s hope the US makes history today, but for the right reasons.
“Change” should not be a frightening concept.
A big thank you goes to Cosmic Variance for posting these videos.
Target Australia: The EAS Re-Entry Location
It looks like the Early Ammonia Servicer (EAS) re-entered pretty close to Australia in the end. The US Space Command released the co-ordinates of 48° S 151° E as the most likely EAS re-entry fireball. This is only 550 km south of the southern-most region of Australia, Tasmania. An eagle-eyed reader of the Universe Today also noted that the original location of re-entry being in the Indian Ocean was incorrect. As the Indian Ocean is separated from the Pacific Ocean at the 147° meridian, the 151° longitude is obviously well within the South Pacific.
All articles now corrected. At least the EAS didn’t drop into Sydney harbour… now that might have caused a “diplomatic incident”.
EAS Space Junk is Toast, Re-Entry Over Pacific Ocean Likely
It looks like the Early Ammonia Servicer (EAS) that has been orbiting Earth for the past 15 months had a fight with the Earth’s atmosphere… and lost. Due to re-enter at some time today (Sunday), an eagle-eyed amateur astronomer noted when the EAS was due to make an orbital pass… but the ammonia-filled space station cast-off missed its November 2nd appointment.
Thomas Dorman of Horizon City, Texas, observed the object fly overhead on November 1st. Dorman was using a low-light camera to attempt to spot the speeding debris earlier today, “but the EAS did not appear,” he said. “I think it is safe to assume EAS has reentered.”
It is most likely that the EAS disintegrated and any surviving bits either fell into an ocean (somewhere) or dropped harmlessly in a sparsely populated region. No reports of a fireball or half a refrigerator randomly dropping into someone’s back yard have surfaced, so my money is on NASA’s reckoning that the EAS would fall harmlessly into water.
Update (Nov. 3rd):
News from SpaceWeather.com as to the location of re-entry:
US Space Command reports that the Early Ammonia Servicer (EAS) probably reentered Earth’s atmosphere on Nov. 3rd at 04:51:00 GMT +/- 1 minute over the following coordinates: 48° S, 151° E. That would place the fireball over the
Indian Ocean[Pacific Ocean] south of Tasmania where sightings are unlikely.
Update (Nov. 4th):
Refer to Target Australia: The EAS Splashdown Location…
Aside: As it’s Sunday and I’ve not been writing much, I decided to have a dabble with Photoshop and create a quick visualization of what the EAS may look like as it’s falling through the atmosphere (above). I used NASA images for the Earth atmosphere backdrop and the original 2007 space station image of the EAS tumbling in space…
Source: SpaceWeather.com
Watch Your Heads! Space Station Junk to Hit Earth Today
Somewhere, sometime today, the Early Ammonia Servicer (EAS) will drop to Earth at 100 mph.
A huge piece of space junk discarded from the space station in 2007 will drop through the atmosphere some time today (Sunday). The Early Ammonia Servicer, otherwise known as the EAS, was detached from the orbiting outpost as its services were no longer required. The double-refrigerator-sized piece of equipment weighs 635 kg (1400 lb) and is filled with toxic ammonia. Although NASA believes most of its mass will disintegrate during re-entry, there’s a real chance of up to 15 pieces of the EAS reaching the ground, the largest piece could weigh up to 17.5 kg (40 lb).
But here’s the funny thing, as the EAS is currently skirting along the outermost reaches of the atmosphere, we are uncertain as to when, or where, the re-entry will take place. NASA and U.S. Space Surveillance Network scientists have done well to narrow the re-entry window down to one day. Fortunately, 70% of the planet is covered in water, so we should be fine. But should any parts of the EAS find solid ground, NASA has warned that we shouldn’t approach any suspicious-looking (and probably steaming) bits of meteorite in case the EAS still has some ammonia on board…
Continue reading “Watch Your Heads! Space Station Junk to Hit Earth Today”
“Under My Watch, NASA Will Inspire the World Again” – Barack Obama
And you know what? I believe him.
In only three days, the USA will take to the polls and vote in their next president. Presently, Sen. Barack Obama (Democrat) is holding the lead in the opinion polls, in front of Sen. John McCain (Republican). Opinion polls, although indicative of the current mood of voters, are by no means fool-proof, this election could go either way.
This is the first US election I have been in the country for, and from what I’ve seen and heard from both leading candidates have been worrying yet significant. It is no secret that the US is suffering every “crisis” in the book (housing crisis, credit crisis, economic crisis, health care crisis…), but the one election issue that is key in my mind is the growing space exploration crisis. Whilst this may be low on the list of national priorities at the moment, the next few years will be critical to the international balance of space exploration dominance for decades to come. The next few years, if unchecked, could be the most challenging period NASA has ever faced.
The US space agency needs to be nurtured and led by a strong president and vice-president who understands the position of building a powerful position in space exploration. In my view, there’s only two men up to the task…
Continue reading ““Under My Watch, NASA Will Inspire the World Again” – Barack Obama”
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