Sessions have been very short and infrequent as of late. If it wasn't for the storms making everything so darn cloudy all the time, the other issue is the fact that the sun doesn't set until 9pm and it doesn't even get truly dark until 10pm at which point sometimes I just want to go to sleep.
Most sessions were literally occurring as I was going to bed. I would step outside long enough to see just one satellite and then coming back inside.
One cool session was on June 13th when I showed my Mrs the ISS. Funny thing is that I knew about what time the ISS was going to be going overhead. When I saw it, I called to her and said 'Do you want to see the International Space Station?'. She said 'Sure'. So she stepped outside and there it was, though I though it was a bit faint, but since it was early eveing I thought that maybe it just wasn't as bright. So she saw the little light going across the sky and said 'Cool!'. It was at that point that I saw a REALLY REALLY bright thing out of the corner of my eye. THAT was the ISS. So I said, 'honey, I've made a mistake. you didn't see the ISS.' I then pointed above and said 'THAT'S the ISS'. She said 'Holy $#!%". I told her that it was bright because the sun had just set and that, well, it's the size of a freaking football field and if you look closely enough, you can see that it's not a round dot but kinda has a different shape to it. She thought it was cool. It was nice to share with her what I do when I'm standing outside for an hour or two.
Here's the time-line for the evening of:
Date: 26-May-2011 Thursday
10:20 PM - Name: Cosmos 2219 Rocket - Magnitude: 2.3
Int'l Designator: 1992-076-B
This is my 5th sighting of this Zenit-2 rocket which was used to launch Kosmos 2219, a Russian Tselina-2 ELINT satellite, into orbit in 1992.
10:56 PM - Name: Cosmos 2297 Rocket - Magnitude: 2.2
Int'l Designator: 1994-077-B
This is my 2nd sighting of this Zenit-2 rocket body which was used to launch Kosmos 2297, a Russian Tselina-2 ELINT satellite.
Here's the time-line for the evening of:
Date: 27-May-2011 Friday
11:09 PM - Name: SeaSat 1 - Magnitude: 4.7
Int'l Designator: 1978-064-A
This is my 2nd sighting of SeaSat 1, an ocean observation satellite for monitoring ocean currents, wave heights and sea surface temperature. It was launched in 1978 using an Atlas-F Agena-D rocket. At the time, it was pretty impressive. Of note, it was the first satellite designed for remote sensing of the oceans and also the first satellite to have synthetic aperture radar (SAR) (aka, take several scans using a radar to get a picture than what is possible by just doing one scan). There's even conspiracy theory around this satellite. Supposedly, the satellite was sensitive enough to be able to detect the wakes of submerged submarines. According to the conspiracy theory, the military shut down SEASAT due to concerns that possibly a foreign military might be able to intercept the data from SEASAT and use it for recon, so they baked a story about a power failure.
Here's the time-line for the evening of:
Date: 30-May-2011 Monday
10:02 PM - Name: Lacrosse 4 - Magnitude: 1.7
Int'l Designator: 2000-047-A
This is my 5th sighting of Lacrosse 4, a spy sat for the National Reconnaissance Office, or the NRO for short. This nights observation had a bit of a slow strobe to it. A little history: It was launched on August 17, 2000 using a Titan IV-B rocket. But you didn't hear that from me. :P
Here's the time-line for the evening of:
Date: 2-Jun-2011 Thursday
10:19 PM - Name: IGS 1B - Magnitude: 2.9
Int'l Designator: 2003-009-B
This is my first sighting of IGS 1B, a Japanese spy satellite. IGS stands for 'Information Gathering Satellite'. IGS 1A, an optical spy satellite, and IGS 1B, a radar based spy sat, were launched in 2003 using an H-2A rocket (specifically an H2A2024. It is stated that the first set of IGS satellite was launched in response to the situation where North Korea tested missles over Japan in 1998. Since IGS 1A/1B, three other sets have been put into orbit (a fifth set was destroyed in late 2003 when the H-2A rocket failed). IGS 1B ceased functioning in March 2007 due to a power failure.
Here's the time-line for the evening of:
Date: 3-Jun-2011 Friday
10:06 PM - Name: Cosmos 1441 Rocket - Magnitude: 3.4
Int'l Designator: 1983-010-B
This is my 5th sighting of this Vostok-2M rocket which was used to launch Kosmos 1441, a Russian Tselina-D ELINT satellite.
10:19 PM - Name: CZ-2C R/B aka Shiyan 2 LM Rocket - Magnitude: 3.4
Int'l Designator: 2004-046-B
This is my first sighting of this Chinese Long March 2C rocket (or more specifically CZ-2C-III). This rocket was used to launch Shiyan 2, a civilian satellite capable of producing stereo earth terrain maps.
10:26 PM - Name: UARS - Magnitude: 0.6
Int'l Designator: 1991-063-B
This is my 3rd sighting of UARS (Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite). UARS was a huge,c omplex satellite which consisted of no less than 9 instruments that measured/studied things like natural microwave thermal emissions, winds from auroras, and total solar irradiance (of which I know nothing about). UARS was launched into orbit in 1991 using Space Shuttle Discovery as part of STS-48. Of note, the Internation Space Station had to take avoidance maneuvers on October 28 2010 in response to the flight path of UARS.
10:44 PM - Name: Envisat - Magnitude: 3.3
Int'l Designator: 2002-009-A
This is my first sighting of Envisat, a European (ESA) earth observation satellite. It contains nine different instruments that are used to study things like ozone depletion, ocean temperature and color, wind waves, hydrology (humidity, floods), agriculture and arboriculture, atmospheric dispersion modelling (pollution), etc. It was launched into orbit in 2002 using a Ariane 5G rocket from the French Guyana. Note: It's possible that the object I sighted was NOT Envisat. I was free-styling (observing without a given list) and if I remember correctly, things weren't matching up exactly but Enivsat was the closest thing that somewhat matched the orbit, time, etc. However, I would eventually accurately spot Envisat on June 14th 2011 (see below).
10:49 PM - Name: Spot 5 Rocket aka IDEFIX/ARIANE 42P - Magnitude: 2.9
Int'l Designator: 2002-021-B
This is my first sighting of this Ariane 42P (specifically Ariane-42P H10-3) rocket which was used to launch 2 satellites in 2002. This launch was the last launch for the Ariane 42P. The two satellites aboard were SPOT 5, a French high-res optical imaging satellite and Indefix which was a payload attached to the final stage of the Ariane and was used to prove that it was it was feasible to use the spent final stages of a rocket to carry experimental payloads that do not require things such as specific altitude, solar orientation, blah blah blah etc. So, in short, what I spotted was actually the Indefix part.
11:00 PM - Name: X-37B OTV 2-1 - Magnitude: 1.8
Int'l Designator: 2011-010-A
This is my 3rd sighting of X-37B OTV 2-1, the 'top secret' Air Force little mini-spaceshuttle. As always, the public has no knowledge of what this little spacecraft is doing up there, but it's still up there. It's official designation is USA-266. I checked but couldn't find any end date for the mission, however it was launched on March 5th 2011 from an Atlas V 501 rocket and was designed to stay in space for 270 days, so if it maxxes out its stay in space, it'll come home around Christmas time.
Here's the time-line for the evening of:
Date: 6-Jun-2011 Monday
10:40 PM - Name: shooting star - Magnitude: 2.0
Int'l Designator: none
This was an orange shooting star that started nearly overhead in the NE and streaked to the west.
10:47 PM - Name: CZ-2C R/B aka Shiyan 2 LM Rocket - Magnitude: 4.0
Int'l Designator: 2004-046-B
This is my 2nd sighting of this Chinese Long March 2C rocket (or more specifically CZ-2C-III) that was used to launch Shiyan 2 earth observation satellite.
Here's the time-line for the evening of:
Date: 13-Jun-2011 Monday
These are the two satellites that I got to see with the Mrs.
10:11 PM - Name: NOSS 3-2 Rocket aka ATLAS 2AS CENTAUR R/B - Magnitude: 3.3
Int'l Designator: 2003-054-B
This is my 3rd sighting of this Atlas 2AS Centaur rocket. This rocket was used to put 2 NOSS (Naval Ocean Surveillance System) satellites, specifically the NOSS 3-2 pair of satellites. Earlier incarnations of NOSS sets (first and second generation) had three satellites.
10:17 PM - Name: ISS - Magnitude: -3.4
Int'l Designator: 1998-067-A
This is my 16th sighting of the International Space Station.
Here's the time-line for the evening of:
Date: 14-Jun-2011 Tuesday
9:12 PM - Name: ISS - Magnitude: -2.8
Int'l Designator: 1998-067-A
This is my 17th sighting of the International Space Station. For this sighting, the sun had only set 4 minutes prior to spotting (sunset was at 9:08pm), so the sky was still very bright.
10:19 PM - Name: ETS-7 - Magnitude: 3.4
Int'l Designator: 1997-074-B
This is my first sighting of ETS-7 (Engineering Test Satellite) from Japan. This satellite was launched aboard an H2 in 1997. The ETS-7 was an experiment in space rendezvous docking and space robotics. It actually consisted of two parts, a chaser and a target satellite. Of note, it was the first satellite in the WORLD to have a robotic arm, as well as being the first unmanned satellite to perform autonomous docking successfully.
10:27 PM - Name: Cosmos 2278 Rocket - Magnitude: 2.3
Int'l Designator: 1994-023-B
This is my 4th sighting of this Zenit-2 rocket which was used to put Kosmos 2278, a Russian Tselina-2 ELINT satellite, into orbit in 1994.
10:33 PM - Name: Cosmos 1844 Rocket - Magnitude: 3.1
Int'l Designator: 1987-041-B
This is my 2nd sighting of this Zenit-2 rocket which was used to put Kosmos 1844, a Russian Tselina-2 ELINT satellite, into orbit in 1987.
10:41 PM - Name: Envisat - Magnitude: 3.4
Int'l Designator: 2002-009-A
This is my 2nd sighting of the European Envisat earth observation satellite.
10:48 PM - Name: ISS - Magnitude: -2.1
Int'l Designator: 1998-067-A
This is my 18th sighting of the Internation Space Station. It also may mark the first time that I've spotted a satellite twice in the same evening.
10:49 PM - Name: Cosmos 2082 Rocket - Magnitude: 3.3
Int'l Designator: 1990-046-B
This is my 4th sighting of this Zenit-2 rocket which was used to put Kosmos 2082, a Russian Tselina-2 ELINT satellite, into orbit in 1990.
Here's the time-line for the evening of:
Date: 15-Jun-2011 Wednesday
9:44 PM - Name: ISS - Magnitude: -3.5
Int'l Designator: 1998-067-A
This is my 19th sighting of the Internation Space Station.
10:13 PM - Name: Cosmos 2278 Rocket - Magnitude: 2.4
Int'l Designator: 1994-023-B
This is my 5th sighting of this Zenit-2 rocket which was used to put Kosmos 2278, a Russian Tselina-2 ELINT satellite into orbit in 1994.
10:13 PM - Name: Cosmos 1263 Rocket - Magnitude: 3.5
Int'l Designator: 1981-033-B
This is my 2nd sighting of this Kosmos-3M rocket. This rocket was used to put the Ukranian Taifun-1 military target satellite (mostly for radar calibration) into orbit in 1981.
10:19 PM - Name: Cosmos 1222 Rocket - Magnitude: 2.7
Int'l Designator: 1980-093-B
This is my first sighting of this Vostok-2M rocket which was used to put Kosmos 1222, a Russian Tselina-D ELINT satellite, into orbit in 1980.
10:21 PM - Name: NOSS 3-5 (B) - Magnitude: 4.4
Int'l Designator: 2011-014-B
10:21 PM - Name: NOSS 3-5 (A) - Magnitude: 4.4
Int'l Designator: 2011-014-A
This is my first sighting of the NOSS 3-5 pair of satellite. NOSS stands for Naval Ocean Surveillance System. The official NASA designation for this pair of satellites is USA-229. It is rumored that this may be a fourth generation set of satellites. If I recall correctly, there was a shooting star that I saw back in April, when this pair was launched, that I through might be the re-entry of the NOSS 3-5 rocket, though that turned out not to be the case.
10:25 PM - Name: ARGOS - Magnitude: 3.3
Int'l Designator: 1999-008-A
This is my 3rd sighting of the ARGOS (Advanced Research and Global Observation Satellite). This sighting was unique in that there was a 3 second flare from the satellite. This satellite has a whole slew of different payloads (a total of 9) that sense and look at all kinda of stuff. Some of the payloads are: CERTO - Coherent Electromagnetic Radio Tomography Experiment, CIV - Critical Ionization Velocity Experiment, EUVIP - Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Photometer Experiment, HTSSE II - High Temperature Superconductivity Space Experiment and USA - Unconventional Stellar Aspect. This satellite was sponsored by the DoD BTW. It was put into orbit in 1999 usign a Delta II rocket (a Delta 7920 to be exact).
10:31 PM - Name: Shiyan 2 LM Rocket aka CZ-2C R/B - Magnitude: 3.0
Int'l Designator: 2004-046-B
This is my 3rd sighting of this Chinese Long March 2C rocket (or more specifically CZ-2C-III) that was used to launch Shiyan 2 earth observation satellite.
10:31 PM - Name: Cosmos 2056 Rocket - Magnitude: 4.0
Int'l Designator: 1990-004-B
This is my 2nd sighting of this Kosmos-3M rocket which was used to launch Kosmos 2056, a Russian Strela-2M military communications satellite. Of note, when realing the info on the Strela-2M, it appears that the Strela-2M satellites have a life of about 2 to 3 years, which seems a bit wasteful or something. This (and various other Strela-2M satellites) are spinning around the earth, cluttering up space. Maybe they should plan on deorbiting them when they are done. Thie one has been spinning around the earth being usesless for the past 25 years. Geeeeeez. (And I'm not just finger-pointing at the Russians, as I am certain that the USA has just as many useless, defunct satellites spinning around the earth.)
10:33 PM - Name: NOSS 3-2 Rocket aka ATLAS 2AS CENTAUR R/B - Magnitude: 2.6
Int'l Designator: 2003-054-B
This is my 4th sighting of this Atlas 2AS Centaur rocket. This rocket was used to put the NOSS 3-2 (Naval Ocean Surveillance System) satellite pair into orbit.
10:35 PM - Name: Cosmos 2082 Rocket - Magnitude: 3.3
Int'l Designator: 1990-046-B
This is my 5th sighting of this Zenit-2 rocket which was used to put Kosmos 2082, a Russian Tselina-2 ELINT satellite, into orbit in 1990.
10:41 PM - Name: Rosat - Magnitude: 3.3
Int'l Designator: 1990-049-A
This is my 2nd sighting of Rosat, a German X-ray telescope which operated for 9 years. According to Wikipedia, it recently made the news when "the German news magazine Der Spiegel reported that the German government was in possession of a study indicating that the 2,400 kg satellite was unlikely to burn up entirely while reentering the earth atmosphere due to the large amount of ceramics and glass used in construction. Parts as heavy as 400 kg could crash on the Earth between October and December 2011." I guess we'll see if there is any truth to this report. At least it's going to deorbit soon (granted it's still been up there being useless since Feb 1999).
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