I'm on a bit of an astronomical roll this week. This morning I picked the morning paper up off the driveway and turned to go inside. As usual, I scanned the sky briefly. As I looked to the northeast a shooting star streaked downward for a second or two.
Earlier this week, at 5:30am I flipped over to Channel 5 to catch a little weather forecast and a traffic update with the lovely Kathleen England before heading out the door a little while later. Scott Connell, the weather guy, came on and mentioned that the space shuttle would be passing overhead in five minutes. For some reason I had never seen the shuttle pass overhead in the 20-something years of the shuttle programs existence.
By that time of the morning I have usually finished eating breakfast and just killing a little time before the drive to work. I went out in the cold and stood, staring upward like a slack-jawed bumpkin staring at the big city skyscrapers. The minutes seemed to drag on, especially when you don't know exactly what the shuttle would look like. Will it be bright? Will it move quickly? Finally, there was a twinkling that caught my eye as a light passed behind some tree limbs. Sure enough, the yellowish glow moved steadily across the sky, growing whiter and very bright before starting to fade to a duller yellow again. I suppose the whole thing wasn't earth shattering to witness but there is a certain wonder in realizing the task of putting something up into orbit and seeing it fly by.
Peek-a-boo FREE Tricks & Treats for You! Get 'em!
Earlier this week, at 5:30am I flipped over to Channel 5 to catch a little weather forecast and a traffic update with the lovely Kathleen England before heading out the door a little while later. Scott Connell, the weather guy, came on and mentioned that the space shuttle would be passing overhead in five minutes. For some reason I had never seen the shuttle pass overhead in the 20-something years of the shuttle programs existence.
By that time of the morning I have usually finished eating breakfast and just killing a little time before the drive to work. I went out in the cold and stood, staring upward like a slack-jawed bumpkin staring at the big city skyscrapers. The minutes seemed to drag on, especially when you don't know exactly what the shuttle would look like. Will it be bright? Will it move quickly? Finally, there was a twinkling that caught my eye as a light passed behind some tree limbs. Sure enough, the yellowish glow moved steadily across the sky, growing whiter and very bright before starting to fade to a duller yellow again. I suppose the whole thing wasn't earth shattering to witness but there is a certain wonder in realizing the task of putting something up into orbit and seeing it fly by.
Peek-a-boo FREE Tricks & Treats for You! Get 'em!
5 Comments:
Was there a sonic boom?
Sonic booms are not produced in orbit.
But a friend of mine said he heard one. Sounds like the times were different though. Somebody must have saw or heard the wrong thing. Or maybe the same thing at different times?
No offense to your friend but I think he is off his rocker. The shuttle passed by at 5:35am, not 12:00. He may have heard a noise of some sort but it wasn't the shuttle making a sonic boom. It just doesn't happen while in orbit.
But could it have been on it's landing approach when he heard the supposed sonic boom and thus been in the atmosphere? I don't remember where it landed. Was it in Florida?
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