The Space Shuttle Discovery [STS-131] is slated to reenter Earth's atmosphere over the continental United States, and many sky watchers--especially in the northwestern USA and neighboring Canada--could witness a beautiful pre-dawn reentry on Orbit 237. The exact ground track depends on weather and whether mission controllers decide to send Discovery to land in Florida or California. Nominally, Discovery would pass diagonally across the country, passing over, e.g., Minneapolis, Chicago, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, the Appalachian Mountains of Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee and North Carolina, then Jacksonville en route to a 7:34 am EDT landing at the Kennedy Space Center. On the other hand, a redirect to Edwards Air Force Base would strongly favor observers in California. There will be a chance to hear the DOUBLE SONIC BOOM-BOOM! Check SpaceWeather for details. Monday, April 19, 2010
Shuttle Ground Track May Enable Sighting
The Space Shuttle Discovery [STS-131] is slated to reenter Earth's atmosphere over the continental United States, and many sky watchers--especially in the northwestern USA and neighboring Canada--could witness a beautiful pre-dawn reentry on Orbit 237. The exact ground track depends on weather and whether mission controllers decide to send Discovery to land in Florida or California. Nominally, Discovery would pass diagonally across the country, passing over, e.g., Minneapolis, Chicago, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, the Appalachian Mountains of Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee and North Carolina, then Jacksonville en route to a 7:34 am EDT landing at the Kennedy Space Center. On the other hand, a redirect to Edwards Air Force Base would strongly favor observers in California. There will be a chance to hear the DOUBLE SONIC BOOM-BOOM! Check SpaceWeather for details.
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