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(meteorobs) Fwd: Mir Chasers Head to South Pacific
Does anyone on 'meteorobs' happen to know of this expedition, or what science
these folks are planning on doing down there in the Pacific? Is any of the data
they hope to collect apropos to meteorics?? Just a curious question,
Lew Gramer
------- Forwarded Message
From: Peter Bealo <p...>
To: Amateur Telescope Makers of Boston <atmob-announce...>
Subject: (ATMoB:Announce) Ron Dantowitz quoted on AP and Drudge
Date: Thu, 22 Mar 2001 18:16:54 -0500
Look who's quoted a couple paragraphs from the end...
our own Ron Dantowitz!!
Peter Bealo
Caution. This e-mail message contains minute electrically charged
particles moving at velocities in excess of five hundred million m.p.h.
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Mir Chasers Head to South Pacific
Russians Gather To View Mir Re-Entry - (Reuters)
By RAY LILLEY, Associated Press Writer
NADI, Fiji (AP) - Rick and Bob Citron will have just 200 seconds to =
glimpse the dream of a lifetime: the final fiery moments of the Russian =
Mir space station (news - web sites) as it plunges to the Earth.=20
The brothers are leaders of a mission of 50 space buffs and scientists =
who plan to chase the Mir in planes during its final moments over the =
South Pacific on Friday. The expedition is driven by the dream of =
catching and recording for history and science the Mir's last minutes =
before it hits the waves.=20
``Nobody else is going to be there. We're it. We are the only people on =
Planet Earth who will see the Mir re-entry,'' said Bob Citron, 68, a =
retired space engineer and ballistics expert from Seattle, who is =
leading the expedition.=20
The Citrons are confident they will see the Mir, despite the seemingly =
huge odds against them. With a window of just 200 seconds and a drop =
zone covering thousands of miles of ocean, the brothers insist they will =
be there.=20
``God bless all of you who think we're on a wild goose chase,'' Bob =
Citron said.=20
``I don't care what anybody thinks. I'm here to see the Mir re-entry, =
I'm spending a small fortune to see it and we have the best technology =
in the world,'' he added.=20
There is one caveat - clouds, which could obscure their view aboard =
aircraft flying within 200 miles of Mir's flight path.=20
``The probability of seeing Mir is very high, and of seeing the break up =
is very high indeed, unless there are abnormal cloud conditions,'' said =
Rick Citron, 56, a Los Angeles lawyer.=20
``Nobody in the world is going to get the shots we're going to get. =
Nobody else knows where to be to capture them,'' he said of the =
expedition. About 50 people are paying about $6,500 each, slightly more =
for a window seat, for a package that includes a few nights on the =
Pacific island of Fiji.=20
The expedition was trying Wednesday to hire a third plane, a faster and =
higher-flying jet, to increase its chances of success. The two other =
planes involved are both turboprop planes.=20
Adding a jet would enable the mission to change position quickly if the =
final burns of Mir's braking rockets push it further south than =
currently expected.=20
``We'll be in direct contact with Mir's mission control so we can =
recalculate in the air when and where it is going to happen so we can =
move the aircraft'' to be there, Rick Citron said.=20
The three planes will form a line, horizon-to-horizon stretching to the =
south, alongside the re-entry path and in close contact as their =
200-second ``viewing window'' occurs.=20
Bob Citron has calculated the final re-entry trajectory of the station. =
He revealed the details to expedition members at a closed briefing =
Wednesday at their resort hotel.=20
He calculates the final re-entry will happen about 2,000 miles south of =
Fiji, with the uncertainty of the de-orbit burn's length adding up to =
1,000 miles to that positioning.=20
Final orbit data will come from Russian tracking stations, and the =
planes will have about an hour and a half to get into position, the =
brothers said.=20
``We will be as close to the right place at the right time as humans can =
be,'' Bob said.=20
The expedition expects to document the Mir as it burns up and the =
surviving pieces plunge into the ocean.=20
Aeronautical engineer and astronomer Ron Dantowitz of Brookline, Mass., =
said spectrum analysis would show which materials burned in the =
atmosphere and the time sequence of the burn-up.=20
``This is a piece of science which will record the event in true detail. =
We can actually document the breakup of the space station in detail. It =
will be a treasure trove of information,'' he said. (Bealo =
comment...let me guess now, I bet the OUTSIDE burns up before the =
INSIDE! And I didn't have to spend $$ to go or anything.)
Expedition member Greg Klerkx, 39, of San Francisco, says he and the =
others know they may not see the Mir.=20
``We're prepared for that,'' said Klerkx, director of the Search for =
Extra Terrestrial Intelligence Institute. ``There's a good chance we =
will see it. I am (also) fascinated by the science, because Mir was a =
groundbreaking stage of the space age. This is its end and I will be =
there.''=20
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