[CVRC] Columbia Reentry Observations

[KD7JYK]

See below...

Kurt

---
Ross Technologies Signals Intelligence Division
Rosetta Proving Grounds


> SPACE SHUTTLE REENTRY OBSERVATIONS
>
> In response to my request for observations of the February 1, 2003
> Columbia reentry, I have received numerous reports. The following is a
> compilation of all of the usable accounts received.
>
> These reports have been edited for brevity and clarity. Many
> observers may sound upbeat about the disaster, but this is the result
> of my taking their comments out of context. Also, the location listed
> under an observer's name is that from which they viewed the reentry and
> may or may not be where they reside. Finally, text within [ ] brackets
> was inserted by me.
>
> Although all of the observations are interesting, several are
> especially so because the observer reported seeing or capturing images
> or video of puffs coming off of the Shuttle, a momentary brightening
> of the vehicle, etc. The observers who mentioned such phenomena were:
>
>    Doug Allison
>    Mike B.
>    Rick Baldidge
>    B. Bennett
>    Mark Bixby
>    David
>    Bill and Nance Gault
>    Doug Jones
>    Ian Kluft
>    Jay Lawson
>    Dick Matthews
>    Charles McPartland
>    Carmelita and Charles Morris
>    Joe Nickerson
>    Randy Perretta
>    Mike Plaisted
>    John Sanford
>    Aldo Spandoni
>    Lloyd Vadnais
>
>
> Doug Allison
> Mammoth Lakes, CA
>
> "...Viewing location was hot springs road on the east side of highway
> 395 and north of the airport. I chose a spot approximately 1/2 way
> between the airport cutoff and what I take to be a fishing camp on
> Hot Springs road. There was 1 porch light approx 1/4 mile away and a
> very large wide open section of the sky was visible. Conditions
> overhead were very clear with the stars shining brightly. There was a
> slight haze on the south & western horizons, which may have been thin
> high clouds. I was lying on my back, feet facing northwest and
> scanning the whole sky, binoculars at the ready.
>
> I first noticed the Shuttle at ~30 deg (rough estimate) above the
> horizon as a faint fuzzy reddish spot, almost stationary.  Glancing at
> my watch it was 05:53. At first it looked like the planet Mars,
> appearing a rusty reddish/yellowish/brownish and almost stationary.
> It grew larger & brighter as it moved across the sky, NW to SE.
>
> What struck me most during the whole event was the color change.
>
> Within 10 seconds of spotting it began losing the rusty red color and
> became whiter and brighter with a faint shade of pink. Then the color
> transitioned to much brighter white with stronger pink color and it
> began to leave a contrail. The pink tones became much stronger,
> transitioning to bright red, just like a road flare, with some white
> light mixed in. At this point it was almost directly overhead and
> leaving a strong contrail, twice as wide as a standard commercial jet
> aircraft. Through out the portion of the arc from +/- 30 deg
> (approximate) of apex, it seemed to flicker slightly. Using 10X
> binoculars at the point most directly overhead, 2 objects were clearly
> visible. One, very bright (Shuttle) object and another smaller, but
> very distinct trailing slightly behind and glowing like an ember. When
> I pulled the binoculars down the 2nd object was not visible with the
> naked eye. I watched it for 2 to 3 minutes before disappeared below
> the southeast horizon.
>
> The event so visually intense that I expected to hear sound, but there
> was none. I was left in awe. I did not have a camera..."
>
>
> Mike B.
> Los Angeles, CA
>
> Caught it !!
>
> From Los Angeles (Westchester, on the north edge of LA Airport). Just
> from the front porch, between the street trees, at 5:54:40, appeared
> at due north, just over the rooftops, caught it.
>
> I'd almost given up, as 5:53 was the planned time, and I could see a
> bit of high fuzzy clouds.
>
> Bare eyed, I thought I may have seen some sparks fly off, either
> debris, or plasma.
>
> Were we seeing the SUNLIGHT reflecting, or the plasma glow?
>
> Movement was quite fast, and I eventually lost it in trees.
>
> Only a few stars were visible overhead, but it was brighter than the
> visible stars."
>
>
> Rick Baldridge
> Mount Hamilton, CA
>
> "I have seen, photographed and video taped four Shuttle reentries over
> California, starting with STS-63. A photo of the reentry of STS-73 is
> posted at:
>
> http://photos.yahoo.com/bc/rickbaldridge ...
>
> (If you have trouble with this long link, go to
>
> http://photos.yahoo.com/rickbaldridge
>
> and click on "Astronomy Stuff" album, and then the second picture. The
> Yahoo page was down a few days ago but is working again.)
>
> Believe me, NONE of them show even the slightest indication of
> brightenings in the trail or small pieces coming off.
>
> Yesterday was a bad day for me (and all of us.) I video taped the
> reentry for Mt. Hamilton, CA and took two photos. Naked-eye, we didn't
> notice anything too unusual, but I was spending most of my time looking
> through the video camera viewfinder. We thought we had just seen
> another spectacular NORMAL reentry. Only an hour later when I got home
> did I learn of the tragedy that occurred minutes after we saw the
> Shuttle go by.
>
> When I looked at my video, there were very faint but definite pieces
> coming off, with the first piece seen on the video at 5:53:45am PST
> +/- 1 second. A had made a time-hack as I always do to obtain timings,
> and this hack was synchronized to WWV. As far as I know at this time,
> I was the furthest west observer on the reentry track to get a video.
>
> NASA has been given a copy of the tape. They may want the master of
> course to analyze further. I also took two still photos, one through a
> 16mm lens that shows the entire visible trace of the Shuttle and BOTH
> photos show definite brightenings in the trail that corresponde to
> brightenings the video shows. Again, I have NEVER seen this activity
> before STS-107. The photos will be scanned today and posted, after I
> get a copy to NASA."
>
> "...It's been a very busy 36 hours trying to get data reduced and info
> to NASA on the video and pictures I took.
>
> The two still photos I took from Mt. Hamilton (right next to the 40"
> dome at Lick Observatory -- coords  N37� 20.498'  W121� 38.579'  Alt
> 4230 feet WGS84 datum) have been scanned (rather poorly by myself, I
> might add!) and annotated. I've posted them at:
>
> http://photos.yahoo.com/rickbaldridge
>
> Click on "Astronomy Stuff" album.
>
> I won't speculate at this point -- we've had quite enough of that
> already. Let's just say the photos, videos and eyewitness accounts
> definitely show that something was amiss while COLUMBIA was over
> California. With this being my 4th observed reentry, I have a lot of
> experience looking over photos and videos that I've taken and nothing
> unusual showed on the previous three.
>
> Funny thing was, several of us who saw STS-107 Saturday morning didn't
> see anything we would call really "unusual" using the naked-eye. The
> only comments were that the "color" seemed a bit off, perhaps more
> "orange", but that could be explained by a variety of causes. Only
> later when we looked at the video and developed the slides did we see
> something funny was going on. This leads me to believe that the average
> eyewitness in California may not have seen something going on when in
> fact it was. Hooray for video cameras..."
>
>
> B. Bennett
> Dewey, AZ
>
> "My husband and I watched the reentry from Dewey, Arizona (in the
> Prescott area) through binoculars. He had set up a video camera but
> unfortunately in the excitement of the moment he failed to change the
> mode from standby to record so we have no pictures of what we saw. We
> were absolutely thrilled when the Shuttle appeared to the northwest.
> We have watched both the Shuttle and the Space Station passing
> overhead at night but this was our first reentry so we really didn't
> know what to expect beyond the "manmade meteor". When the shuttle was
> approximately due north of us we saw what I described to my husband as
> "sparks" coming off of the Shuttle before it went out of our view. We
> had a short conversation as to whether this was a normal event or not
> because we hadn't known exactly what to expect..."
>
>
> Mark Bixby
> Huntington Beach, CA
>
> "[Name}Mark Bixby
>
> [Observing Location] Huntington Beach, CA
>
> [Equipment Used] 7x35 binoculars
>
> From about 5:53 a.m. until about 5:55 a.m. the Shuttle was easily
> visible from the Graham Street/Wintersburg Channel bridge. Using 7x35
> binoculars, I observed quite close to the horizon an orange point of
> light with a faint, trailing orange contrail.
>
> There were a few periodic "bursts" in the contrail where it got
> somewhat brighter and then dimmed back down to the average brightness.
> I have never witnessed a Shuttle reentry before, so I have no idea if
> those brightness bursts were normal. I could not perceive anything
> falling off of the Shuttle and forming a separate contrail.
>
> According to the post-disaster news conference, the first sensor
> failures in the left wing of the Shuttle occurred at 5:53 a.m. Did this
> have anything to do with the bursts I saw? I have no idea...
>
> [Still Images or Video] No."
>
>
> Fred Bruenjes
> Ramona, CA
>
> "...I was able to see the Shuttle from Ramona, CA.  My (crummy)
> pictures are at:
>
> http://www.moonglow.net/ccd/pictures/other/index.html#columbia"
>
>
> Randy Bullard
> Garden Valley, CA
>
> "I live in Garden Valley, CA. which is east of Sacramento. I live in
> the Sierra Mountain foothills, so we rarely get the fog that is so
> common in winter west of here. Here is what I saw and heard.
>
> I had never seen a reentry before so I didn't know what to expect. It
> was cloudy here but the clouds were thin so I could see a lot of stars
> through the clouds. I didn't expect the Shuttle to be all that bright
> because of the clouds. Its path took it almost directly over head.
>
> The closest description I can think of is that it looked almost like
> an orange arc welder's torch. It was very bright, way brighter and
> larger than I had expected. It left a huge contrail, something else I
> didn't expect. I watched it until it went out of site on the low
> horizon. I looked through binoculars for a short time, but decided I
> got a better overall impact with the naked eye. Unfortunately, I took
> no pictures.
>
> I was so excited that it had been so wonderful, that I ran up my long
> driveway and turned on the NASA channel to watch it land. At that
> point they had just lost communications and were waiting for
> communications to be restored. Sometime during this wait, my wife and
> I heard a distant boom..."
>
>
> John Cooley
> Poway, CA
>
> "[Name] John "JD" Cooley K6LKW
>
> [Observing Location] Poway, CA
>
> 32 deg 57 min 03 sec North
>
> 117 deg 01 min 10 sec West
>
> [Equipment Used] Binoculars
>
> ...A red dot moving west to east low in the northern sky. Could see the
> "plasma trail" behind the dot just barely visible. The line was very
> straight and steady.
>
> [Still Images or Video] No."
>
>
> Connie Corbett
> Napa Valley, CA
>
> "....seven minutes before breakup. This clip is poor but all that I
> have. I held the camera up as I observed Columbia with the naked eye.
> If you've ever seen a fireball during a meteor shower you have some
> idea what she looked like. What an incredibly beautiful sight....such
> a sad ending to a perfect journey..."
>
>
> Don Crowell
> Laguna Niguel, CA
>
> "...I was able to see the Shuttle come back to Earth, and then raced
> back to my home 2 minutes away - only to see the events unfold...I saw
> the Shuttle reenter at about 5:53ish. It looked like a orange comet
> leaving a long trail. I went to a park on a hill by my home that has a
> good view. I used Bushnell 10x50 binoculars and was thrilled with what
> I saw. I got home and waited (and waited) for the landing. You know
> the rest..."
>
>
> Dan, KF6IQL
> Vallejo, CA
>
> "Had a brief 3 or 4 second visual through a hole in the clouds. Very
> spectacular display. Bright white with a brilliant trail. Never having
> seen a reentry before I'm not sure if anything was unusual but cannot
> report seeing anything I could describe as debris or breaking up..."
>
>
> David
> Palm Springs, CA
>
> "Visible in Palm Springs for a very long distance.
>
> Inspiring."
>
> "I must tell you now that one third of the way in its movement on the
> horizon the vapor or contrail had a white smudge or oval shape
> inconsistent with the rest of the trail both behind and [a]head.
> The Shuttle appeared to be orange but isn't that normal?"
>
> "...to add to my last e-mail--I don't know if this would be useful,
> but that smudge or oval cloud in the contrail of Shuttle stood out
> because it was (blue white) and was in contrast to the black sky and
> the rest of trail which was muted by comparison."
>
>
> Charlie Davis
> Ventura, CA
>
> "I was able  to the Space Shuttle return this morning at 5:54 a.m. It
> was low to the northern horizon just above the mountains. A large
> fireball with a tail around twice a long as the fireball was round. It
> also left a large distinct contrail that was visible for several
> minutes. Very cool.
>
> Name: Charles Davis
>
> Location: Ventura, CA
> N 34.18.287
> W 119.17.361
>
> Equipment used: None.
>
> ..The sky was less than perfect for observation with an almost complete
> covering of haze, with the haze present I left my camera inside the
> house. I was impressed with the size of the fireball, not observing a
> reentry before I have nothing to compare it with. The fireball had a
> tail about twice as long as the diameter of the ball. I didn't see
> anything falling from the vehicle.
>
> Images: Sorry, none..."
>
>
> Steve Edberg
> San Gabriel Mountains, CA
>
> "I was on Angeles Crest Hwy. at the Silver Moccasin Trail head. I saw
> Columbia through cirrus, it disappeared through thicker clouds,
> reappeared, it didn't quite clear Vetter Mountain, and then continued
> on through cirrus before disappearing. I saw nothing indicating a
> problem through binoculars or my 200mm zoom lens. I also listened for
> the sonic boom, until 06:21 PST and did not hear it. They have been
> heard during this stage of earlier reentries but atmospheric conditions
> or distance apparently precluded hearing it...I took 2 or 3 still
> images but don't expect them to show anything..."
>
>
> Bill and Nance Gault
> Las Vegas, NV
>
> "...[Equipment Used]: We viewed Shuttle with naked eye.
>
> [Observing Location]: Las Vegas Nevada.
>
> We went out to look for the Shuttle about 5:40 a.m. PST...About 5:53
> a.m. PST we witnessed the Shuttle passing overhead the Las Vegas,
> Nevada area. It entered our view about NW and exited about SE. If NE is
> 0 degrees and SE is 180 degrees, at about 105 degrees I noticed the
> smooth trail break and expand, back to smooth and do it again at about
> 120 degrees. The trail appeared smooth again until it left out view. I
> am sorry we do not have any pictures..."
>
>
> Donna and Pete Higganbotham
> Lake Isabella, CA
>
> "[Observing Location] Just south of Lake Isabella, California
> approximately 3,000 feet elevation.
>
> [Equipment Used] Eyes
>
> We saw something shaped like a ball going through the air parallel to
> the ground with a vapor following. It traveled from Shirley Peak
> towards Owens Valley. We did not see anything coming off of the
> Columbia while we watched it..."
>
>
> Doug Jones
> Mojave, CA
>
> "...I observed from Mojave, CA, about 35.05N 118.16W, with 10x50
> binoculars. There was a bit of haze that gave stars and planets a
> slight "coma", but I clearly saw the orange dot moving east, leaving an
> ion trail behind it. At about the time of closest approach, it got
> brighter for a moment (seen mostly as a brightening of the haze) and a
> smaller dot separated and drifted aft, dimming as it went. This dimmed
> out completely in about ten to twenty seconds. Perhaps 30 s later I saw
> another brightening, but no other object- the trail did grow thicker
> for a moment. The Shuttle appeared dimmer as it moved toward the dawn
> glare, and I lost sight of it well before the horizon. When I tried to
> look back at the trail, it had already faded..."
>
>
> David Kimes
> Yerington, NV
>
> "..Observing location - Yerington NV 89447
>
> Equipment used... naked eyes...
>
> Was facing north when out of the corner of my eye this very bright
> light appeared over the mountains just to the west of my place. It was
> impressive but it was leaving a contrail. At 200,000+ feet I didn't
> expect a contrail especially since the Shuttle was in glider mode.
> About the time it reach my zenith it seem to change color from reddish
> tint to a blue tint. There were several color changes after that. The
> Sun not yet up seem to be highlighting the 'contrail.' The contrail
> path went from horizon to horizon and was visible for several minutes.
>
> [Still Images or Video] no..."
>
>
> Ian Kluft
> Mount Hamilton, CA
>
> "...[Name]: Ian Kluft...
>
> [Observing Location] Approximately the 2000' elevation (above the fog)
> on SR130 on Mount Hamilton, east of San Jose.
>
> [Equipment Used] None
>
> http://www.kluft.com/~ikluft/shuttle/sts107.html
>
> Though we thought we were far enough up the mountain, a fog bank
> formed suddenly around our group 3 minutes before the Shuttle's
> arrival. We scrambled to toss everything in our vehicles and drive
> further up the mountain. I was talking on the ham radio with a friend
> who was watching from Skyline Blvd at the crest of the Santa Cruz
> Mountains, west of SJ.
>
> He told me that Columbia was at the northwest, then the north, and
> then he lost it behind trees. At that moment, I broke out of the fog
> and saw Columbia.
>
> It wasn't what I expected. I had seen two pre-dawn reentries before.
> They had looked like a highway flare with a thin glowing meteor-streak
> behind it. But it had a smoky trail this time, which seemed to partly
> obscure the brightness of the orbiter in my view as it departed to the
> east. Others whom I met at the vantage point (who also had to flee
> from the fog) are members of the Peninsula Astronomical Society, and
> had seen several reentries before too. We all thought this was
> different. But it didn't occur to us that there was anything wrong
> until we heard on the news that Columbia was overdue at KSC.
>
> We later correlated the time of the smoky trail (5:54 a.m. Pacific)
> with about a minute after NASA said Columbia started losing signals
> from sensors in the left wing (7:53 a.m. Central).
>
> Some members of the Peninsula Astronomical Society got photos and
> video. I wasn't able to because of the scramble to get back above the
> fog during the Shuttle pass..."
>
>
> Jay Lawson
> Reno, NV
>
> "I was video taping the event as it happened and I believe my tape may
> show some problems while it flew over Nevada. No news agencies are
> open in Reno yet (it's still a small town in a lot of ways).
>
> I am trying to find ways to contact NASA or local news to see if my
> video will help. My guess is that the Shuttle may have lost heat tiles
> over Nevada on its way to falling apart in Texas. The main event I saw
> took place about 5 degrees west of Venus at 5:54:25 (time based on the
> NASA website you sent yesterday)."
>
> "I am going to try to get the video digitized this morning or at least
> do screen captures of the "explosions". I will get those to you if I
> am sucessful. I am still trying to contact the local news people to
> look at the tape and send it to the networks.
>
> I call them "explosions" because as the Shuttle entered over Sparks /
> Reno there was an obvious glow and ionization trail. There was one
> small puff in the trail before the Shuttle passed the meridian (near
> Spica ). As I zoomed the camera in when it approached Venus, there was
> a large puff and a second object (debris) passed with and behind the
> Shuttle as it went passed Venus. Shortly after that, I lost the view
> into low clouds at the eastern horizon..."
>
>
> Al Levin
> San Francisco, CA
>
> "I saw the Shuttle reentry from San Francisco. I was at the corner of
> Eddy Street and Franklin Street, using no optical aids, and blocking
> the light of a street light with a tree. I was able to see the Shuttle
> and its contrail for about 10 seconds, as it passed between buildings.
> The coma around the Shuttle was extremely bright (-10, or so) and
> reddish in color. I could see nothing but a single contrail...
> no knots, no secondary trails... but, admittedly, the conditions were
> pretty bad. When I could no longer see the Shuttle, I checked the
> time. I had 5:53:50."
>
>
> Dick Matthews
> Colfax, CA
>
> I live in Woodland--just outside of Sacramento. It was foggy so I drove
> to Colfax on hwy 80 in the Sierras. Thru the high, light clouds I
> clearly saw the reentry from the bay area to the obstruction of the
> Sierras. Was fantastic--I did note that near the obstruction of the
> Sierras there was a distinct fluctuation in the fireball--it may have
> been a normal fluctuation, but it sure made me think when I found out
> that only 6 minutes later, it was lost..."
>
>
> Jay McKee
> Thousand Oaks, CA
>
> "Early this morning I got to see the Space Shuttle reenter the
> atmosphere. An orange ball of light streaking from the northwest
> toward the northeast very low on the horizon. Brian Webb (listmaster
> for Launch Alert) and I were on a ridge line north of Thousand Oaks a
> few minutes before 6:00 a.m. to see if we could catch the event. For
> the most part the sky was clear with the exception of some haze near
> the horizon in all directions. We were monitoring the audio of NASA
> Video on 224.9375 MHz FM the entire time. We were barely able to pick
> up the Shuttle as it passed low over the horizon. It took less than 2
> minutes to cross our field of view."
>
>
> Charles McPartland
> Fallon, NV
>
> Name: Charles V. McPartland: Retired Civil Engineer
>
> Observing location: (Fallon, Nevada 39.4740N, 118.7760W) : 10 miles NW
> of Naval Air Station Fallon.
>
> Note: There is very little light pollution here and viewing of the
> night sky is excellent for this type of event!
>
> Equipment used (binoculars, etc.): none
>
> ...The SST-107 arrived about 2-minutes ahead of schedule and was coming
> from the West. I would guess that the magnitude was about -1.5.
>
> The Shuttle was glowing a reddish orange color from the radiant
> heating. As it came higher in the sky, a plasma or ionic trail was left
> for at least 200 miles behind the Shuttle and the trail was a greenish
> color.
>
> At maximum altitude from our vantage point, the Shuttle was about 75
> degrees in height to the south of us. The reddish orange was then
> beginning to fade a bit, but the greenish trail seemed to brighten a
> bit.
>
> When the Shuttle passed to the southeast of us, it went behind a cloud
> for about 15 seconds, and was not visible to us.
>
> When the Shuttle emerged from behind the cloud, the reddish orange glow
> was very dim. The greenish trail was now evident on both sides of the
> cloud.
>
> It is important to know that we were looking at the left side of the
> Shuttle during all of this time. Several seconds after emerging from
> behind the cloud, the reddish glow was not visible. We could still
> track the Shuttle by its greenish trail.
>
> About a second later, a bright white flash of light appeared to come
> from the Shuttle. I would guess this light to be about a magnitude
> -1.5! The greenish trail continued for another 15 seconds or so, until
> it disappeared as the Shuttle went behind another cloud. The direction
> was east and the elevation was about 20 degrees above the horizon.
>
> As my wife and I walked back to the house, we talked about the bright
> flash of light. At that time we thought that it could have been
> reflection from the Sun.
>
> We watched the NASA channel for about five minutes as we waited for the
> landing. I then went outside to see if the greenish trail was still
> visible but it was faded out by that time.
>
> [Still Images or Video]: No
>
>
> Bob Megling
> Long Beach, CA
>
> "[Name] Bob Megling
>
> [Observing Location] Signal Hill, CA (Long Beach, CA)
>
> [Equipment Used] Naked eye.
>
> Observed the Shuttle moving against the sky low on the horizon for
> 5-10 secs. It was very dim and haze against the San Bernadino
> Mountains nearly obscurred it.
>
> [Still Images or Video] None."
>
>
> Tony Messina
> Las Vegas, NV
>
> "Yes, I saw it!!  too cool!!
>
> Passing over Las Vegas, Nevada at 5:56, leaving a nice contrail behind
> as it moved to the east."
>
>
> Bill Miedecke
> Lake Havasu City, AZ
>
> "...I just watched the Shuttle make its fly-by. It was a good deal
> above the horizon and I watched it for about 20 seconds, they were
> moving faster than anything I had ever seen and they were leaving a
> long trail that didn't last long..."
>
>
> Carmelita and Charles Morris
> Whittier Peak, CA
>
> "We have video and pictures of the Shuttle going by.
>
> We were at Whittier Peak and had a pretty good view. Charles did get
> video of some puffs coming off the back of the Shuttle..." [Carmelita]
>
> "The video, which was shot initially at 1/4 sec exposure and hence is
> jumpy, shows what is clearly two distinct "puffs" in the trail of the
> Shuttle. These move away from the Shuttle. The time is about right for
> the loss of signal with the first sensors ~ 5:53 pm PST. To steady the
> image, I reduced the shutter speed and thus, lost the trail."
> [Charles]
>
>
> Markus Moser and Helen Geriger
> Mount Hamilton, CA
>
> "We saw the Shuttle reentry from Mount Hamilton, Ca. It arrived right
> on time and the view was spectacular. Like a glowing ball flying
> straight from west to east, leaving a snow white track."
>
>
> Brian Neuschander
> Capitola, CA
>
> "...I did see the fly-over. I stepped outside at about 5:45 a.m. PST.
>
> My location is in Capitola, CA, on the very north edege of Monterey
> Bay.
>
> The orbiter crossed the sky right on schedule (5:52 a.m. PST) from
> about WNW to E at about 40-50 degrees above the horizon. It appeared as
> a solid yellow dot, larger than a shooting star or aircraft. It was
> moving in a straight line faster than an aircraft would appear, and
> faster than other orbiting objects we often observe (and much larger as
> well), but slower than a shooting star.
>
> I made these observations with the naked eye. Visiblity was slightly
> hampered by thin and low local fog. Overhead stars were visible, but
> the horizon was obscured. This gave the moving object a round fuzzy
> appearance, and possibly obscured any details out of the ordinary.
>
> No trailing debris or multiple points of light were observed..."
>
>
> Joe Nickerson
> Lancaster, CA
>
> "I watched the reentry on Saturday morning.
>
> - [Name]:  Joe Nickerson
>
> - Observing location: Lancaster, CA
>
> - Equipment used (binoculars, etc.): binoculars
>
> ...There may have been a thin overcast. Stars high looked clear, but I
> could not see any stars below the Big Dipper because of street lights
> and clouds.
>
> ....I picked up the Shuttle as a pale orange streakmoving from left to
> right. I estimate I saw it first almost due north. I then followed it
> with binoculars, seeing a brighter orange spot which left a trail. This
> trail had two irregularities. Specically, the irregularities were
> brighter orange patches within the paler trail. These patches were
> persistent and stayed fixed in space. That is, they did not move with
> the Shuttle. I did not discern any separate pieces. I followed the
> Shuttle until blocked by my roof. The last I saw, it was moving more to
> the east and seemed brighter, despite moving towards the dawn sky
>
> ....At the time, I recall being surprised by the bright patches. My
> initial thought was that a heat shield was ablating, but immediately
> recalled that the Shuttle has reusable tiles, not old-style ablative
> coatings. Thus I was surprised by what I saw. Never having seen a
> reentry before, I worried, but assumed that was normal. I did not
> learn of the crash for at least two hours after. Finally, the
> brightning of the orbiter as it went east I took to be associated with
> looking at it from "above", or down the trail, rather than
> perpendicular. I still believe that to be the case.
>
> [Still Images or Video]: No..."
>
>
> Vic Panegasser
> Henderson, NV
>
> "I observed and photographed the Shuttle reentry from my house in
> Henderson NV (36.03 N 115.03 W). The Shuttle passed overhead at about
> 5:54-5:55 a.m. from northwest to southeast. Everything looked normal to
> me. I had never observed a Shuttle reentry before. It took about 30-40
> seconds to pass by. I took an eight-second exposure (photo attached) at
> 5:55 a.m. with my digital camera..."
>
>
> Randy Perretta
> Northern CA
>
> "...My wife and I observed the reentry...
>
> Our location was at our home at the 2967' level on a mountaintop
> roughly 20 miles due east of Mt. Hamilton east of San Jose and about 25
> miles due west of the town of Patterson in the Central Valley.
> Observing conditions were excellent, the sky clear and starry with
> visibility in excess of 200 miles. The Sierras were plainly visible to
> the east and southeast in the morning twilight as were the peaks of the
> coast range to the north, west and south. There were some clouds
> visible to the north, well below the Shuttle path due to an approaching
> front.
>
> The Shuttle came out of the NW like a rocket as they say, leaving a
> bright, bright uniform trail initially. Its course was steady. As it
> passed due north of us at about 50 degrees of elevation, the trail
> began to fluctuate in intensity. This fluctuation was noticeable to the
> point where my wife commented on it. The entire trail had left a
> considerable afterglow and in the afterglow past the point where the
> fluctuation began, I noticed a few bright spots that appeared to be
> glowing brighter than others.
>
> As we watched the Shuttle disappear over the Sierras to the SE, I
> offered the explanation that perhaps the fluctuations were due to
> varying air density in the upper atmosphere. Apparently and
> unfortunately, I was wrong...
>
> This observation was made with the naked eye. No photographs were
> taken..."
>
>
> Mike Plaisted
> Las Vegas, NV
>
> "I set up a chair in the north part of yard and looked directly to the
> northwest at an estimated 30 degrees.
>
> I had a view of the entire pathway of the Shuttle.
>
> I had no viewing equipment.
>
> The Shuttle appeared right on schedule and right where I was looking.
> When it was close to due north I noticed that there was a bright light
> leading and slightly lower and a small distance behind was a second
> light. My impression was that the nose cone was glowing and the second
> light must have been off the wing on the right side. (I now think it
> must have been the left wing).
>
> The leading light seemed to be about as bright as Venus and the second
> light about half that brightness. The distance between the two lights
> was a little less than a diameter of the smaller light. The two lights
> stayed about the same distance apart. I didn't think anything was wrong
> but it was confusing to me. When it was just past due north, I called
> to my wife who came right out. I turned away from viewing for a second
> or two. When I turned back it was difficult to see for another moment
> as we were looking through tree branches but when in the open again, it
> was only one light. My assumption was that the second light was the
> wing and the two lights were now lining up so only showed as one. The
> whole time there was only one 'meteor' trail and I didn't see any parts
> separate and fall away.
>
> I had no cameras so took no pictures."
>
>
> Bill Quackenbush
> San Diego, CA
>
> "...I live in San Diego @ N 32.555 x W 117.301 , I used 8x56 binoculars
> to view the reentry for about 3 seconds between two houses very low on
> the horizon. It was due north at about 05:55. I saw a single solid
> orange/red fireball followed by a whitish contrail. I took no
> images..."
>
>
> John Rittenhouse
> Costa Mesa, CA
>
> "...At about 5:40 I went up to the top of the hill, in the park,
> behind my house, in Costa Mesa, California.
>
> The Columbia flew from the northwest to the north-east shortly after
> 5:53 a.m. I watched it with the unaided eye for about 45 seconds. It
> was moving VERY FAST. It looked like a bright white dot in an faint
> orange/white cloud. It was truly beautiful, like a man-made star
> hurtling through the heavens..."
>
>
> Chris Robinson
> Las Vegas, NV
>
> "Las Vegas had a real good view. It was great."
>
>
> Dave Rosenthal
> Ridgecrest, CA
>
> "Visually, the show was nice with a white spacecraft leaving a glowing
> trail."
>
>
> Kevin Ryan
> Shaver Lake, CA
>
> "[Observing Location] Central Sierra mountains - 5,500 feet - we are
> about 50 mile NE of Fresno - Owen's Valley is to the SE of us and we
> occasionally feel their earthquakes here.
>
> I went out with my two older sons just a little after 5:50 in the
> morning to watch the Shuttle fly past. From our view both its approach
> from the NW and departure to the NE were partially blocked by pine
> trees. It was not an ideal viewing location. We were watching it
> unaided - no binoculars. I have never seen a Shuttle reentry before so
> I can't compare what I saw with previous experiences. It was about 35
> degrees above the horizon. It was a bright fireball-like shape trailing
> a plume behind it. It moved amazingly fast. It was what I had expected
> to see based upon what I had read on what it would look like. I talked
> to my two sons and neither they nor I noticed any changes in brightness
> or anything falling away from the Shuttle. We were just a Dad and his
> kids excited to see something so cool and I don't think we would have
> noticed something subtle dropping away from Shuttle..."
>
>
> John Sanford
> Springville, CA
>
> "...I got up and videoed the Shuttle going over California. It was low
> in the north from here but significant tape was shot. My tape made
> with a Sony Digital Hi8 and Nightshot (IR blocking filter out) shows
> two what I would call "separation events". There is a flash and then
> some material joins the trail behind the fireball, and then a second
> or so later, another smaller flash and then something fairly large
> comes off the ship, follows along for a moment and then slowly falls
> behind as it fades. This just at 0553 when they got the interrupted
> transmission from the ship...."
>
> "Right outside my home here in Springville. Cords: W118 48 18.8 and
> N 36 13 28.6  elev 2230 ASL
>
> Getting lots of reaction. Here are 3 stills from the videotape."
>
>
> Tim Shaner
> Orange County, CA
>
> "My wife and I did successfully see Columbia from south Orange County,
> CA this morning.
>
> Our coordinates were approximately: lat N33.66; lon W-117.82 deg, near
> the 5 and 405 fwy intersection in Laguna Hills. According to J-Pass,
> we were expecting a visual in the NW at 0552 hrs PST, but due to
> slight cloud cover, we made contact at approximately 0553. It was
> never higher than approximately 5 degrees above the horizon.
>
> We observed the Shuttle in the pre-dawn as a faint yellowish orange
> glow on a smooth, predicted track. Initial contact was beneath Ursa
> Major in the north as it made its way east. A contrail could be
> faintly seen. For this event, we had been monitoring NASA audio with
> my hand-held ham [radio] on freq 448.500; WA6VLD, Mt. Wilson. The NASA
> PR person was making regular announcements as to its location,
> altitude, etc. We saw nothing irregular from our experience during the
> entire 2-3 minute scan across the sky."
>
>
> Aldo Spandoni
> Ranch Palos Verdes, CA
>
> "...I had occasion to observe the reentry of STS-107 on the morning of
> February 1, 2003 from a location in southern California. I observed
> two anomalous events during this observation, with reasonably accurate
> measurements of time and position...
>
> These observations were made from the north facing balcony of my home.
> I live in the city of Rancho Palos Verdes, on the southern edge of the
> Los Angeles basin in California. My home is located on a north facing
> hillside with an unobstructed view of the entire Los Angeles basin.
> Elevation at this location is approximately 1000 feet above sea level.
> The position of my home is 33 degrees 45 minutes 2 seconds north
> latitude, 118 degrees 19 minutes 52 seconds east longitude. This
> location estimate is based on my review of US Geological Survey map
> N3345 - 11815/7.5, Torrance, California....
>
> Visibility over the Los Angeles basin was generally excellent on the
> morning of February 1, 2003. The morning featured scattered high thin
> clouds, but the stars were clearly visible through these clouds. To
> the north, I could easily see the antenna towers and lights on top of
> Mt. Wilson, located approximately 37 miles north east of my location.
> This is a good general indication of visibility to the north across the
> Los Angeles basin, especially near the horizon. The sky was not
> completely dark, of course, given the cumulative light of Los Angeles.
> Twilight was just becoming visible on the eastern horizon...
>
> All quoted times are Pacific Standard Time. Luckily, I had just set the
> time on my digital watch just prior to observing Columbia. I used a
> local telephone-based time service at 310-853-1212. I have no way of
> estimating the accuracy of this time service. I had a clear view of
> Polaris, and used it as a basis for all azimuth estimates. I have done
> my best to estimate the uncertainty of all quoted time and position
> observations. I conducted these observations using Bushnell
> Rangemaster wide angle binoculars, 7 x 35mm, with an 11 degree
> field-of-view.
>
> I began my observation at approximately 5:45 a.m. Columbia first came
> into naked eye view at approximately 5:53:20 - 5:53:40, moving west to
> east, approximately 10 degrees above the horizon, perhaps a few degrees
> west of due north. Columbia appeared as a bright point of light,
> yellowish white in color, with a visible but relatively dim contrail
> appearing orange gray in color. I watched it for a few seconds
> naked-eye, then continued my observations using my binoculars. Columbia
> was beautiful! Almost immediately after beginning the binocular
> observation, with Columbia approximately 6 to 10 degrees east of due
> north, I witnessed a single piece of debris separate from the bright
> point of light which was Columbia. This debris was visible as a single
> point of light which moved back from Columbia and slightly below the
> contrail. Its brightness appeared to be significant as compared to
> Columbia itself, perhaps 10 to 20 % as bright. The debris appeared to
> maintain a fairly steady level of brightness and then winked out
> quickly. The duration of this event was approximately one second. I
> estimate that this event occurred at approximately  5:53:45 - 5:54:00
> (see figure 1).
>
> Approximately 3 to 6 seconds later, I witnessed a second similar event,
> another single point of light separating from Columbia. This was much
> dimmer than the first with a shorter duration before it became
> invisible, perhaps 0.5 seconds (see figure 2). I estimate that this
> event occurred at approximately  5:54:03 - 5:54:06.
>
> Subsequently, no additional such events were visible. Columbia remained
> visible as a single point of light during the remainder of my
> observations, moving in a straight trajectory from my point of view. It
> remained visible until it disappeared over the mountain ranges east of
> the Los Angeles basin. This occurred at approximately  5:57:00 -
> 5:57:30. The point on the horizon at which I lost sight of Columbia was
> approximately 70 degrees east of due north. It occurred to me that
> Columbia was probably over Nevada or Arizona at this point....
>
> I have extensive experience as an aerospace illustrator, visualizing
> aerospace concepts and phenomena... using various computer graphic
> tools. I have recreated the events I witnessed and described above to
> the best of my ability, using Adobe Photoshop. I submit these as
> figures 1 and 2. On these illustrations, I have indicated the relative
> brightness of Columbia and the debris events to the best of my
> recollection, as observed through the binoculars described above.
> Also, I have positioned the debris just at the angular distance behind
> Columbia where the debris began to fade to invisibility. Note these are
> strictly illustrations based on my best recollection of observed
> events..."
>
>
> Jim Spellman
> Lake Isabella, CA
>
> "Observing location: Mountain Mesa (Lake Isabella), CA
>
> Equipment used (binoculars, etc.): Bare naked eye in backyard
>
> What looked to be a normal, descending groundtrack over the southern
> Sierras; passage was a bit muted (in comparison to STS-51D mission over
> Houston, TX in 1985), due to low, thin cloud cover. Couldn't see entire
> pass, due to neighbor's house blocking view....
>
> [Still Images or Video]: Nope..."
>
>
> Robert Spindler
> Placentia, CA
>
> "...I was able to see the Shuttle from my view spot in Placentia,
> Calif. (near Anaheim) it was faint and low on the horizon about 10-15
> degrees. Of course not much detail on it because of all the pollutants
> I suppose. But I did see the long tail..."
>
>
> Steve Sumner
> Colfax, CA
>
> "...I watched from my home in Colfax, which is about 45 miles
> northeast of Sacramento. This was my first reentry observation. It was
> a very cool sight to see, and I'm very much looking forward to seeing
> another!..."
>
> "I sent you an observation report about an hour after seeing the
> Shuttle's reentry...I reread my report later, and decided that I
> should add a couple of details, and correct an error. So here's the
> updated version...I took a photo, but it's still in the camera. If
> you'd like, and if it turns out, I can email you a copy when I get it
> developed."
>
>
> Leslie Tanner and Jimbo Franz
> Suisun City, CA
>
> "No special equipment used for viewing...
>
> The morning was dark with broken low clouds, but stars were
> intermittently visible, and we were hopeful. We had been out for about
> ten minutes, and were about to give it up when the clouds opened and I
> saw a bright reddish white spot (about the size of a airliner at 15K
> feet, not just a dot like a star) appear in the east about 30 degrees
> up from the horizon. It streaked across the sky from west to east,
> about 10 degrees off vertical to the north, leaving a beautiful laser
> green trail that persisted for half a minute after the Shuttle itself
> was out of site. It was the first either of us had seen a Shuttle
> reentry although we both have seen meteor showers and satellites..."
>
>
> Kevin Tomlinson
> Las Vegas, NV
>
> "...Observing Location - In front of my house in Las Vegas, NV
>
> Equipment Used - None, strictly visual
>
> Video or Pictures - None
>
> ...I woke up Saturday, made some coffee, and set up some chairs in our
> front driveway. We have a number of streetlights visible from our
> backyard, so I was using our house to block them out, and get a clear
> view of the northern skies. There were some high thin clouds, and the
> usual Vegas ambient light, but the major constellations were easy to
> see, and visibility was generally good. I woke up my oldest daughter,
> who woke up my youngest, and mom decided to join in also. We got
> outside at about 5:45 and waited. At roughly 5:56, my youngest was
> getting impatient, so I said "a few more minutes." I knew the window
> was from about 4:48 to 5:58.
>
> Suddenly, there it was! I was holding our oldest and standing, my wife
> was sitting with the youngest, and she couldn't see. "Hurry, stand up!"
> We all watched it screaming across the sky! It was just barely above
> the roofline of our house, putting it about 30 degrees above the
> northern horizon. The vapor trail was a greenish color, similar to some
> meteors--in fact, it was like watching the slowest, longest meteor you
> ever saw. I was very excited! We continued watching until it faded
> into the expanding pink of the eastern sky.  We saw no evidence of
> anything wrong..."
>
>
> Lloyd Vadnais
> Paso Robles, CA
>
> "My wife and I were watching the Shuttle about 5:58 a.m. or 5:59 a.m.
> PST. We live outside of Paso Robles, CA.
>
> We were looking North from our deck. We saw the light given off by
> Columbia going on a low arc. Just at the end of the arc there was a
> flash of light as the Shuttle moved along its arc.
>
> No equipment was used. It was not totally clear but we could see the
> light from the Shuttle going across the sky."
>
>
> Edward Van Guilder
> Mount Laguna, CA
>
> "...Location- Mt Laguna at 6000 feet, 45 miles east of San Diego.
>
> Equipment- Just naked eye. First reentry observation.
>
> At about 0555 PST I observed a dull orange/red ball due north and
> traveling easterly at around 12 degrees elevation. There was a faint
> trail about 15 degrees long. The sighting lasted about 45 seconds. The
> Shuttle would have been in southern Nevada at the time of my
> observations. An impressive sight..."
>
>
> Robin Weir
> Phoenix, AZ
>
> "Shuttle reentry pass visible naked eye from Phoenix, AZ. First
> spotted at NNW. As it moved across N (~6:56 local) the trail became
> visible. With binos the trail looked like a thin anemic vapor trail.
> This was through thin clouds and with a rapidly brightening sky..."
>
> "...The bright orange/yellow part appeared larger than Jupiter and
> extended back no more than 2 diameters before the pale trail began.
> Shuttle dropped below housetops when NE..."
>
>
> Connie Wilson
> Saint Helena, CA
>
> "I observed the Space Shuttle Columbia's reentry from St. Helena in
> Napa Valley, under clear skies.  I first noticed Columbia low in the
> western sky, and watched it fly directly overhead and into the east.
> It appeared as a comet-like yellowish-orange ball, with a uniform
> contrail. I thought it looked particularly beautiful, with brilliant
> stars as its background. From my vantage point on the valley floor,
> the contrail passed right through the up-turned handle of the Big
> Dipper. About 4 minutes after its passing I heard one sonic boom. I
> did not take any pictures or video...."
>
>
> Arnold Zigman
> Long Beach, CA
>
> "...Observing location: Long Beach, CA on Stearns just west of Vuelta
> Grande looking north from bridge over flood channel with good view of
> Angeles Crest, Mt. Wilson, etc....
>
> ...No [optical] equipment used
>
> ....Fast moving light moving west to east, low on horizon just over
> the mountains, much faster than small plane moving west to east at
> same time. Approximate time was 0556.
>
> [Still Images or Video]: No..."
>
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> EDITOR'S OBSERVATION
>
> I woke up at 5:00 a.m. on February 1st and checked the Spaceflight Now
> web site. The crew had just been given a "go" to perform their deorbit
> burn (engine firing) so I loaded my equipment in my car and at 5:25
> a.m. was enroute to Mountclef, my observing site. Mountclef is a high
> ridge in Thousand Oaks* with a good view to the north.
>
> During my drive I had my 2-meter ham radio in the car and talked to
> Bob, KK6UE. He was climbing a high hill behind his house to get a
> view of the reentry.
>
> Aviation and space enthusiast Jay McKee was already on-scene when I
> arrived at Mountclef. The sky had varying amounts of high, thin clouds.
> Unfortunately, they were fairly thick towards the north, exactly where
> Columbia was predicted to appear.
>
> That made trying to photograph the event pointless, so I left my
> camera in the car. Instead, I used my tripod to hold my 10x50
> binoculars.
>
> I had expected others to join us, but it turned out to be just Jay and
> me. He had the foresight to bring his handheld scanner and tune it to a
> local ham radio repeater broadcasting the commentary from NASA TV.
>
> I looked at my printout of azimuth and elevation data for the reentry
> and pointed out to Jay where we should first see the vehicle. About
> that time the NASA commentator said Columbia was approaching the
> California coast.
>
> Glancing at my watch, I saw it was 5:53 a.m., right about the time we
> should first see it. Several seconds later Jay asked "Is that it?"
> Close to the northern horizon I immediately spotted a fuzzy, white
> light moving from west to east.
>
> I quickly went to the binoculars and found the object. With optical aid
> the Shuttle looked like a semi-bright, white star with a slight orange
> hue. It did not varying in brightness or color. Behind it was a
> conspicuous, long, luminous trail. It was semi-transparent, uniform,
> and gray in color. After several seconds the Shuttle disappeared behind
> some thick clouds in the northeast and the display was over.
>
> Afterwards Jay and I were pleased that we were able to see the
> reentry and were upbeat. I commented that I was suprised how fast it
> was moving.
>
> We parted company and I drove home. At about 6:30 a.m. I was working on
> my computer and listening to the radio when I heard a breaking news
> story that the Columbia was overdue at Kennedy Space Center and an
> eyewitness had said the Shuttle appeared to "have two tails".
>
> I was caught completely off guard, but I knew the Columbia was probably
> lost. A day that had gotten off to such a nice start took a sudden
> turn for the worse.
>