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(meteorobs) Excerpts from "CCNet 21/2002 - 12 February 2002"


------- Forwarded Message

From: Peiser Benny <B.J.Peiser@livjm.acdot uk>
To: cambridge-conference <cambridge-conference@livjm.acdot uk>
Subject: CCNet 21/2002 - 12 February 2002 
Date: Tue, 12 Feb 2002 09:25:16 -0000

CCNet 21/2002 - 12 February 2002 
------------------------------- 

[...]

(2) NO DOWNED PLANE FOUND AS CITIZENS REPORT FIREBALL
    New Haven Register, 11 February 2002 

(3) MASSACHUSETTS RESIDENTS REPORT HEARING SONIC BOOM, SEEING FIREBALL
    Ron Baalke <baalke@jpl.nasadot gov>

(4) NEW REPORT ON HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE IMPACT DAMAGE
    Andrew Yee <ayee@nova.astro.utorontodot ca>

[...]

=============
(2) NO DOWNED PLANE FOUND AS CITIZENS REPORT FIREBALL
 
>From New Haven Register, 11 February 2002 
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1281&dept_id=31007&newsid=3235161&PAG
=461&rfi=9
 
NORTH CANAAN (AP) - Authorities found no evidence of a plane crash after
receiving calls from Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and Vermont from
people who heard a sonic boom or saw a fireball Saturday afternoon. 

Police, firefighters, and airports received calls at about 2:30 p.m.
Saturday from people who described seeing a fireball in the sky or hearing a
sonic boom and an explosion.

"One said it looked like a long metal item, and another said it looked like
a piece of metal with a fireball," said a police dispatcher at Troop B, who
refused to give her name.

David Paine, a state police spokesman in Massachusetts, said officials
believe it could have been a meteor.

"There were a number of calls for sighting of fireballs and sounds of sonic
booms in Russell, Montgomery, Pittsfield and into New York state," said Lt.
Paul C. Maloney, another spokesman for the Massachusetts state police. "We
did send an aircraft in the areas (where the sightings were reported) and
they saw nothing at that time."

The Federal Aviation Administration, which received calls from southern
Vermont and western and central Massachusetts, said it had no reports of
missing aircraft and had been told by the North American Aerospace Defense
Command there were no military activities taking place. 
 
)New Haven Register 2002  

============
(3) MASSACHUSETTS RESIDENTS REPORT HEARING SONIC BOOM, SEEING FIREBALL

>From Ron Baalke <baalke@jpl.nasadot gov>

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/041/region/Western_Mass_residents_report_:.s
html

Western Mass. residents report hearing sonic boom, seeing fireball 
Associated Press
February 10, 2002

State public safety officials found no evidence of a plane crash after
receiving calls from residents who heard a sonic boom or saw a fireball
Saturday afternoon in western and central Massachusetts. 

Police, firefighters, airports and the state emergency management agency
received calls at about 2:30 p.m. on Saturday from residents who variously
described seeing a fireball in the sky or hearing a sonic boom and an
explosion. 

''We believe it could have been a meteorite,'' trooper David Paine, a state
police spokesman, said Sunday. 

Full story here:
http://www.boston.com/dailynews/041/region/Western_Mass_residents_report_:.s
html

==============
(4) NEW REPORT ON HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE IMPACT DAMAGE

>From Andrew Yee <ayee@nova.astro.utorontodot ca>

[From January 2002 issue of ORBITAL DEBRIS QUARTERLY NEW, NASA JSC,
http://www.orbitaldebris.jsc.nasadot gov/newsletter/v7i1/v7i1.html#news5]

New Report on Hubble Space Telescope Impact Damage 

The Image Science and Analysis Group at the NASA Johnson Space Center has
just released its latest assessment of small particle damage to the HST in
Survey of the Hubble Space Telescope Micrometeoroid and Orbital Debris
Impacts From Space Shuttle Service Mission 3A Imagery (JSC-29539). Prepared
primarily by David Bretz and the late Leif Anenson, the report characterizes
the results of a special investigation of HST photographs from the December
1999 mission of
STS-103 to identify high velocity impact features. A similar analysis was
performed following the second HST servicing mission by STS-82 (see Survey
of the Hubble Space Telescope Micrometeoroid and Orbital Debris Impacts from
Service Mission 2 Imagery, JSC-28472, 1998). 

During the STS-103 mission the Electronic Still Camera (ESC) was used from
inside the Space Shuttle crew cabin to map all visible areas of the body of
HST using a 80-200 mm lens at full zoom (200 mm) and to image selected areas
with the 400 mm telephoto lens. Astronaut Scott Kelly was the primary survey
photographer, who underwent preflight training for this mission task. A
total of 99 images (50 with the 200 mm lens and 49 with the 400 mm lens)
were taken from the aft
flight deck. Many of these images were selected for special particle impact
analysis. 

In all, 571 impact features (strikes) were selected for characterization and
measurement: 398 in the 200 mm lens images and 173 in the 400 mm lens
images. Where possible, the dimensions of both the central hole and the
outer delamination ring were measured. The most prevalent hole size seen in
the 200 mm lens images was 2-3 mm, but the higher resolution 400 mm lens
images yielded a majority of hole diameters in the 1-2 mm range. The
delamination ring diameters typically are twice the size of the associated
hole. 

One of the most important metrics for determining the flux of the particle
environment is the density (number per square meter) of impacts. Average
impact densities of about 45/m2 were found on the -V3 quadrant of HST. This
is a cumulative effect over almost 10 years in Earth orbit. Unfortunately,
micrometeoroid and orbital debris impacts cannot be differentiated in the
images. Therefore, statistical techniques, taking into account the mean
densities of micrometeoroids
and orbital debris and their effects on hypervelocity impact morphology,
will need to be applied to distinguish the probable populations.

IMGE CAPTION:
[http://www.orbitaldebris.jsc.nasadot gov/newsletter/v7i1/hubble_fig1.jpg]
Five HST impact sites photographed with 400 mm lens.

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