Crash On The Moon
In the small hours of tomorrow morning, NASA’s LCROSS spacecraft will crash land on the moon. The craft will be deliberately hard-landed in two sections providing data about the composition of the lunar surface. NASA TV will provide live coverage and you can find out more on the Spaceweather site.
images courtesy of NASA
Spy Satellite USA 193
The US Navy’s first attempt to hit malfunctioning spy satellite USA 193 with a missile could come on Wednesday night during the lunar eclipse. This is based on an air traffic advisory warning pilots to steer clear of a patch of Pacific Ocean near Hawaii just when USA 193 is due to pass overhead. Until the satellite is shot down, it remains visible to casual sky watchers during evening passes over US and Canadian towns and cities; experienced observers say the decaying satellite is sometimes as bright as the stars of Orion, making it an easy target for unaided eyes and off-the-shelf digital cameras. Details, photos and more information are available at http://spaceweather.com.
You can also track the satellite for yourself at the Heaven’s Above site. Go to the site at http://www.heavens-above.com/ and you will find full instructions. You need to find where you are on the Earth either by picking your city from the database or by clicking on a map. Then you select the satellite that you want to track. There is a huge database, including USA 193, the International Space Station and the Hubble Space Telescope. Once the settings are applied, you can find when the satellite will be visible to you and where to look.
