Joshua Tree location

From: Matson, Robert (ROBERT.D.MATSON@saic.com)
Date: Wed Feb 05 2003 - 14:13:09 EST

  • Next message: Steven Rogers: "Re: Columbia debris in Joshua Tree?? Get real..."

    Hi Dale and List,
    
    > I don't have a map here so I don't know how far Joshua tree is
    > from the reentry path but I watched the debris cloud on weather
    > radar and it was visible for 9 hours drifting ENE in upper level
    > winds and covering a huge area that was not originally below
    > the reentry ground track.
    
    I should have explained Joshua Tree's location for the benefit
    of those who don't live in California.  Joshua Tree is a tiny
    little town about 2 1/2 hours' drive time due east of Los Angeles.
    It's a good 450 km *SOUTH* of the ground track -- indeed, Columbia
    was only a few degrees above the horizon as seen from Joshua Tree.
    I've since heard it "explained" that the debris may have been
    carried there by the jet stream, which is just as laughable.  This
    "jet stream" would have to have been heading in a southwest
    direction to deposit debris in Joshua Tree.
    
    If they want to look for debris that came off early, I wouldn't
    look any further west than Nevada.  Unfortunately, the ground
    track crosses a lot of very remote real estate in Nevada --
    major cities like Las Vegas, Reno and Carson City are not candidates
    for reentry debris.
    
    Cheers,
    Rob
    
    -----------------------------------------------------------------
    Unsubscribe from SeeSat-L by sending a message with 'unsubscribe'
    in the SUBJECT to SeeSat-L-request@lists.satellite.eu.org
    http://www.satellite.eu.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
    



    This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Wed Feb 05 2003 - 14:36:22 EST