Hi All, Currently, there is about a 4-day window of possible reentry dates centered on late January 20th (UT). During this window there are 23 orbits with ground tracks that intersect some portion of the continental U.S. At this point nearly every state is intersected by one of these ground tracks -- the exceptions are Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Connecticut, and New Hampshire. Only one orbital ground track intersects each of the following states: Arizona, Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Wisconsin, Delaware, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
States with at least 5 passes include California, Oregon, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Virginia, Pennsylvania and New York. Europe also has its share of possibilities: 6 tracks intersect France and Italy, 8 tracks intersect some portion of the UK, Spain 4, Portugal 2, Switzerland 1, Austria 3 (including a pass right over Vienna around 21:20 UT on January 18th), Germany 2, Belgium 2, Netherlands 2, Poland 6, Sweden 14 and Norway 15 (thanks to their high latitudes). Since STARSHINE 3's orbit is quite circular, the oblateness of the earth is a larger factor than the perigee position as far as favoring a particular reentry latitude. So the northern hemisphere is favored on ascending nodes, the southern hemisphere on descending nodes. Of the 23 previously mentioned passes over the continental U.S., 12 are ascending node passes. These passes favor California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Minnesota, Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania and New York. In the coming days, the reentry window will narrow, and more locations will be eliminated as possible reentry spots. Cheers, Rob ______________________________________________ Meteorite-list mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
