Hi All, Since there are a number of list members who live in Arizona, I thought I'd report that there is a very slight chance that the ASTRA 1K Blok DM3 upper stage will decay on an ascending pass across the United States late tonite/early tomorrow morning. If you happen to live in the Phoenix area, the decay (if it occurs) would happen a little after 1:40am Mountain Time (UTC - 7 hours). The ground track of the booster actually passes just a little to the northwest of Phoenix as it moves from southwest to northeast. From an observer's viewpoint in Phoenix, the predicted track would cut between Perseus and Cassiopeia in the northwest, moving very rapidly left to right.
Other states that this pass flies over are Colorado (pretty much corner to corner), Nebraska, the southeast corner of South Dakota, southern Minnesota, and northern Wisconsin. At orbital velocity, it takes only about 6 minutes for the booster to fly from southwest Arizona all the way to Lake Superior. Of course, if the reentry does not occur on this pass, then you will see nothing since the rocket body will not be sunlit. But if it DOES occur, you will witness something far more rare than a bright bolide! Best, Rob ______________________________________________ Meteorite-list mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
