[Launch Alert] Total Lunar Eclipse

Sun Dec 19 18:01:49 EST 2010

                             LAUNCH ALERT

                              Brian Webb
                        Post Office Box 6484
                    Thousand Oaks, CA 91359-6484
                          ATTN: Launch Alert

                  launch-alert-editor at earthlink.net
                     http://www.spacearchive.info

                               2010 December 19 (Sunday) 15:00 PST
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                       SOLSTICE LUNAR ECLIPSE
                         by Dr. Tony Phillips 
               Reprinted from http://science.nasa.gov

Dec. 17, 2010:  Everyone knows that "the moon on the breast of
new-fallen snow gives the luster of mid-day to objects below." 

That is, except during a lunar eclipse. 

The luster will be a bit "off" on Dec. 21st, the first day of northern
winter, when the full Moon passes almost dead-center through Earth's
shadow. For 72 minutes of eerie totality, an amber light will play
across the snows of North America, throwing landscapes into an unusual
state of ruddy shadow. 

The eclipse begins on Tuesday morning, Dec. 21st, at 1:33 am EST
(Monday, Dec. 20th, at 10:33 pm PST). At that time, Earth's shadow
will appear as a dark-red bite at the edge of the lunar disk. It takes
about an hour for the "bite" to expand and swallow the entire Moon.
Totality commences at 02:41 am EST (11:41 pm PST) and lasts for 72
minutes. 

If you're planning to dash out for only one quick look -- it is
December, after all -- choose this moment: 03:17 am EST (17 minutes
past midnight PST). That's when the Moon will be in deepest shadow,
displaying the most fantastic shades of coppery red. 

Why red? 

A quick trip to the Moon provides the answer: Imagine yourself
standing on a dusty lunar plain looking up at the sky. Overhead hangs
Earth, nightside down, completely hiding the sun behind it. The
eclipse is underway. You might expect Earth seen in this way to be
utterly dark, but it's not. The rim of the planet is on fire! As you
scan your eye around Earth's circumference, you're seeing every
sunrise and every sunset in the world, all of them, all at once. This
incredible light beams into the heart of Earth's shadow, filling it
with a coppery glow and transforming the Moon into a great red orb. 

Back on Earth, the shadowed Moon paints newly fallen snow with
unfamiliar colors--not much luster, but lots of beauty. 

Enjoy the show. 

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                   VANDENBERG AFB LAUNCH SCHEDULE
                       As of 2010 December 19

                   Launch
                Time/Window
  Date           (PST/PDT)                Vehicle       Pad/Silo
--------      ---------------           ----------      --------

JAN 11        To be announced           Delta IV Heavy  SLC-6
Vehicle will launch the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office's NROL-49
payload  

FEB 5         To be announced           Minotaur I      SLC-8
Vehicle will launch the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office's NROL-66
payload  

FEB 23        02:09:43                  Taurus XL       576E
Payload is the Glory scientific satellite. Vehicle will carry three
small satellites as secondary payloads: Explorer 1 Prime (Montana
State University), Hermes (University of Colorado), and KySat-1
(Kentucky space consortium).  

MAR 31        To be announced           Atlas V         SLC-3E
Vehicle will launch the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office's NROL-34
payload  

JUN 9         Unknown                   Delta II        SLC-2W
Vehicle will launch Argentina's SAC-D scientific satellite carrying
NASA's Aquarius instrument  

The above schedule is a composite of unclassified information
approved for public release from government, industry, and other
sources. It represents the Editor's best effort to produce a schedule,
but may disagree with other sources. Details on military launches are
withheld until they are approved for public release. For official
information regarding Vandenberg AFB activities, go to
http://www.vandenberg.af.mil.

All launch dates and times are given in Pacific Time using a 24-hour
format similar to military time (midnight = 00:00, 1:00 p.m. = 13:00,
11:00 p.m. = 23:00, etc.). 

The dates and times in this schedule may not agree with those on other
online launch schedules, including the official Vandenberg AFB
schedule because different sources were used, the information was
interpreted differently, and the schedules were updated at different
times. 
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                  LOOKING BACK: Fast Radar Contact

A Launch Alert reader sent me an interesting e-mail in the aftermath
of the contrail seen west of Los Angeles on November 8th.

Although I have never met this reader, he is well-known in the
southern California astronomical community and appears to have a
technical or scientific background.

He wrote:

"Since we're on the topic of mystery sightings, I wonder if you could
comment on one I had, which has been puzzling me for sixty-three
years.

This was in October or November of 1947. I was an Electronic
Technician's Mate on board the U.S. Navy submarine Blueback, and was
on duty one evening as operator of our aircraft radar. We were
sailing northward at a point somewhere off the Ventura-Santa Barbara
coast. Suddenly I saw (and reported to the Captain) a blip that was
steadily moving across the PPI screen at a rate that I clocked as
about 1,000 mph.  As I recall it was moving in a SW to NE direction,
toward the coast. The blip was so strong, with such a constant motion
in a straight line, that I didn't think it could have been anything
but a real object.

In the fall of 1947 I knew of no aircraft that flew at that speed. We
had to report the sighting as "unidentified."  But I have wondered
since -- could I have been watching one of the first supersonic
flights (perhaps by Scott Crossfield) from Edwards AFB -- or could it
have been some rocket test? However the direction -- toward the coast
-- makes the latter seem unlikely.

Any thoughts you might have would be appreciated,"

Here are three possible explanations:

   - It was an aircraft

   - It was a missile

   - It was a false radar return

A far as I know, the fastest aircraft in operation at that time was
the rocket-powered X-1, which could fly at speeds approaching 1,000
mph.

In 1947, X-1 flights consisted of daylight drops from an Air Force
bomber. The flights took place near Edwards AFB so the X-1 pilot
could use the base's huge dry lakebed to land.

Since X-1 flights took place during daylight near Edwards AFB, we
can probably rule out it was the X-1.

The sighting occurred several miles from Point Mugu, a known test
center for U.S. Navy missiles. However, I believe the only type of
missile flown on the Point Mugu range back then was the U.S. Navy's
Loon, a subsonic, unmanned jet (basically a copy of the German V-1
from World War II). Also, back then Loon launches were probably
conducted during daylight.

The unusual radar contact may have also been due to the atmospheric
bending of the radar signal. Radar signals are really radio signals,
most of which are in the VHF, UHF, and microwave portions of the
radio spectrum.

Signals from an aircraft detection and tracking radar would normally
be directed upward and travel out into space. However, the lower part
of the atmosphere can bend VHF, UHF, and microwave signals over the
horizon. In some cases, it can bend these signals downward, allowing
them to hit the Earth.

That would cause a radar signal to travel outward, hit the Earth, and
travel back to the radar, creating a bogus radar return.

However, such false radar returns would probably seem to be stationary
and not moving at 1,000 miles per hour.

I am intrigued by this report and I cannot explain it.

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