You are browsing the archive for 24 February 2009 - Dan's Wild Wild Science Journal.
24 February 2009
NASA Orbiting Carbon Observatory Launch Fails
I watched last night as the NASA Orbiting Carbon Observatory launched from California. What looked like a successful launch, ended with the spacecraft falling into the Pacific Ocean just short of Antarctica. Apparently the protective shell around the satellite, failed to separate. The extra weight meant the rocket could not get enough velocity to make it into orbit. The observatory reached an altitude of over 300 miles, but then fell …
Two Things
Have you seen Comet Lulin. I spotted it tonight here in Huntsville Alabama. Dim and green, just next to Saturn. Sky and Telescope magazine has an excellent article with charts to help you find it. Do use binoculars. It will be hard to see with the naked eye except in very dark locations. www.skyandtelescope.com A viewer here in the Huntsville area sent this pic. Thanks to Bryan Shirkey of Madison …
Dan Satterfield has worked as an on air meteorologist for 32 years in Oklahoma, Florida and Alabama. Forecasting weather is Dan's job, but all of Earth Science is his passion. This journal is where Dan writes about things he has too little time for on air. Dan blogs about peer-reviewed Earth science for Junior High level audiences and up.