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Old 03-05-2009, 14:44
HenryGarten
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Henry'll probably already realise this - but objects low down in Virgo - like the Sombrero - only give us in UK a limited time-frame per year to catch them.
I know exactly what you are saying but I am not one of your dedicated observational astronomers. If you cannot see it with the naked eye I usually do not bother.

In 1997 it fell to me to do a piece on Radio 5 Live about comet Hale Bopp.

Anyway two reporters came with me to observe the comet. Now it so happened that at the appointed time the cloud cover was 100%. One of the reporters said to me "You are going to have to pretend to see the comet". Now I was very unhappy about this. By good fortune it started to clear out and I was able to make my report without any skullduggery involved. In fact the clouds made it better since the great excitement of the comet appearing was recorded.

Not sure what would have happened if the clouds had stayed.

That was over 12 years ago. In fact I last sighted Hale Bopp on May 4th 1997.
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Old 03-05-2009, 15:11
boxx
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Old 08-05-2009, 12:26
HenryGarten
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Shuttle mission to service Hubble due off on May 11th.
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Old 08-05-2009, 12:52
HenryGarten
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Obama asks for space review to report by August. See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/8039835.stm
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Old 11-05-2009, 07:33
HenryGarten
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Shuttle Atlantis due off today to service Hubble. Another shuttle is standing by in case a rescue is needed.

See http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sh...ain/index.html
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Old 11-05-2009, 07:41
Ricardodaforce
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Shuttle Atlantis due off today to service Hubble. Another shuttle is standing by in case a rescue is needed.

See http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sh...ain/index.html
This really is an exciting mission. They are gonna be very busy.
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Old 11-05-2009, 07:46
HenryGarten
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This really is an exciting mission. They are gonna be very busy.
Yes there was a time that it looked as if it was not going to happen.
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Old 11-05-2009, 07:56
diddygirl
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What time here will it launch? Not very good at transferring times.
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Old 11-05-2009, 08:32
HenryGarten
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What time here will it launch? Not very good at transferring times.
Well it says 10 hours 30 minutes from now. So that is about 7pm British time.

I am sure this thread will keep up to date.
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Old 11-05-2009, 08:35
diddygirl
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Well it says 10 hours 30 minutes from now. So that is about 7pm British time.

I am sure this thread will keep up to date.
Thanks will keep eyes and ears open!
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Old 11-05-2009, 08:42
HenryGarten
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Thanks will keep eyes and ears open!
The countdown clock here is the best as it reflects what is actually happening. If there is a delay the clock will show it. However I presume there is only one narrow window each day for a launch as they have to launch in such a way that they can catch up with the Hubble orbiting in space.

See clock at upper right of this page. See http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sh...ain/index.html
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Old 11-05-2009, 08:45
HenryGarten
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The countdown blog will begin at 8.30am EDT (Eastern Daylight Time) which is 1.30pm BST.

See http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sh...unch_blog.html
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Old 11-05-2009, 09:43
ElMarko
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The countdown clock here is the best as it reflects what is actually happening. If there is a delay the clock will show it. However I presume there is only one narrow window each day for a launch as they have to launch in such a way that they can catch up with the Hubble orbiting in space.

See clock at upper right of this page. See http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sh...ain/index.html
Actually the launch windows are larger for lower inclination flights. ISS windows typpically last 10 minutes, but they will target the in-plane time which is the middle of the window. They'll extend 5 minutes to the end of the window if need be because of a hold at a GLS milestone. But anymore than that and there isn't enough ascent performance margin to make the target orbit.

The lower launch window time means the countdown and holds are slightly different. The hold times are longer for ISS missions because the small target window means that if there's a problem you need a bit more time to make sure everything's sorted out. There isn't as much margin for error. Hence the T-9 minute hold is longer.
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Old 11-05-2009, 11:13
BeethovensPiano
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Hoping everything goes well for the Hubble servicing mission.
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Old 11-05-2009, 14:04
HenryGarten
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Just under five hours to launch.
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Old 11-05-2009, 16:47
boxx
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Thanks for the reminder. Will be watching.
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Old 11-05-2009, 18:19
diddygirl
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Thanks for the reminder. Will be watching.
Where can we catch live footage?
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Old 11-05-2009, 18:26
GaseousClay
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Where can we catch live footage?
Try this diddygirl http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html
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Old 11-05-2009, 18:44
afcbfan
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Thanks for the shuttle reminders. Old gaetanomorano's not gonna be a happy chappy, is he? He appears to have gone on a permanent holiday, though
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Old 11-05-2009, 18:48
HenryGarten
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Thanks for the shuttle reminders. Old gaetanomorano's not gonna be a happy chappy, is he? He appears to have gone on a permanent holiday, though
I do not suppose he will. All best go fine otherwise he will say he was right!
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Old 11-05-2009, 19:07
c0lefax
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Great launch
1 bad transducer but everything else seems to be ok.

EDIT: Engine cut off and now in orbit
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Old 11-05-2009, 19:46
Mandark
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Go shuttle!
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Old 11-05-2009, 19:50
boxx
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Yep, very enjoyable and i always get a rush from watching launches. Love the rotation to topside up for better comms revealing the earth curvature in the background. Breathtaking. Got the .pdf timetable and will be watching what i can of the mission.

NasaTV for the coverage. Only reliable source.
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Old 11-05-2009, 20:26
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Cheers. I forgot about having Sky gives me access to the US news channels. Managed to catch it on CNN.
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Old 11-05-2009, 21:16
ElMarko
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Great launch
1 bad transducer but everything else seems to be ok.

EDIT: Engine cut off and now in orbit
Lost an aerosurface servoamplifier too, but they'll troubleshoot on orbit. They are quadruply redundant so not much of an issue.
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