Busy day in space
Feb. 20th, 2008 01:27 pmThere's a lot going on over our heads...
Atlantis just returned safely to earth, well ahead of the U.S.S. Lake Erie now poised in the Pacific to to shoot down a spy satellite tonight, if conditions are favourable. This will effectively be the first "live fire" test of the U.S.'s missile defense system and is expected to take place between 9:30 p.m. and midnight EST somewhere over Hawaii.
Edit: Stormy conditions in the Pacific make it unlikely the satellite will be shot down tonight. The window of opportunity for the Navy to shoot the satellite down ends on February 29th or 30th.
Meanwhile, on the east coast, we will see, weather permitting, a total lunar eclipse. The moon should enter the umbral shadow about 8:43 p.m. EST, and will gradually become eclipsed over the next 78 minutes. The moon will then begin to emerge from the umbral shadow about 12:09 a.m. EST. The moon will appear red during the eclipse, but the exact shade will depend on the amount of atmospheric particulate matter. Below is a handy graphic of when the eclipse will occur in different regions across North America. Those in Europe and Africa will need to stay up until 1:43 a.m. GMT Thursday morning to catch the show.
Atlantis just returned safely to earth, well ahead of the U.S.S. Lake Erie now poised in the Pacific to to shoot down a spy satellite tonight, if conditions are favourable. This will effectively be the first "live fire" test of the U.S.'s missile defense system and is expected to take place between 9:30 p.m. and midnight EST somewhere over Hawaii.
Edit: Stormy conditions in the Pacific make it unlikely the satellite will be shot down tonight. The window of opportunity for the Navy to shoot the satellite down ends on February 29th or 30th.
Meanwhile, on the east coast, we will see, weather permitting, a total lunar eclipse. The moon should enter the umbral shadow about 8:43 p.m. EST, and will gradually become eclipsed over the next 78 minutes. The moon will then begin to emerge from the umbral shadow about 12:09 a.m. EST. The moon will appear red during the eclipse, but the exact shade will depend on the amount of atmospheric particulate matter. Below is a handy graphic of when the eclipse will occur in different regions across North America. Those in Europe and Africa will need to stay up until 1:43 a.m. GMT Thursday morning to catch the show.
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