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Re: (meteorobs) Re: meteorobs-digest V3 #180



At 06:45 PM 1999-11-15 MST, susan caudill wrote:
>....
>The space shuttle is set to launch on Nov 17 in the am hours.  With all the 
>concern about the satellites, etc being hit by the Leonids, should'nt NASA 
>be concerned about the shuttle?   Sue

Not sure where you heard this. A news item issued today announcing the
expected failure of the fourth of the Hubble telescope's six gyros says this:

"Shuttle Discovery was moved to its seaside launch pad this weekend to
 prepare for the 10-day repair mission, now tentatively scheduled to begin on
 Dec. 6."

I've been seeing such predictions for the next shuttle launch for a few
weeks now.

The news item did not mention whether the failure of the gyro would affect
NASA's shifting of the Hubble so as to minimize exposure to Leonids
meteors. The failure of this fourth gyro apparently puts Hubble out of
commission for further observations until the shuttle crew can effect
repairs, however.

For more, see
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/19991115/sc/space_telescope_1.html

Incidentally, gyro failure seems to be a common occurance within some
satellites. The SOHO solar observation bird was out of commission for some
weeks this year until they were able to come up with a software fix to
compensate for the failure of two of the four gyros. SOHO has already
operated well beyond its expected lifetime. It is a very valuable bird for
observation of solar corona emissions which cause magnetic field
disturbances on Planet III. :o)

Clear skies,

SteveH
Shrewsbury MA
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