Deutsch Español Français Italiano Portuguese
ISS Transit discussion group on Yahoo
page accesses since 26 Apr 2005
1 Jun 2005
Presently my server is busted, so I'm unable to generate new reports. I was trying to upgrade from Red Hat Linux 9 to Red Hat Fedora Core 3, and it didn't work out...
Fedora 4 will be released June 6, and I'll rebuild using that. At the same time, I'm upgrading from Oracle 9i to 10g, and installing WebLogic server software. I can't say right now how long all that will take, but I hope to have it all working again before the shuttle is launched.
Unfortunately I also may have lost some of my subscribers' database records (including their email addresses), so it may be necessary for some people to re-enter their
information.
May 5
is day-of-year 125- 5 May 2005 | 16:59 reports
use the
NASA ISS TLEs
5 May 2005 | 13:02 reports used the USSPACECOM TLE
----- Original Message -----
From: WEAVER, JONATHAN K. (JSC-DM NASA)
Sent: Thursday, May 05, 2005 10:54 AM
Subject: Iss Day 125 Orbital Elements File
ISS currently is in the -YVV +ZLV LVLH attitude mode.
USSPACECOM TWO LINE MEAN ELEMENT SET
ISS
1 25544U 98067A 05125.57859535 .00009298 00000-0 74098-4 0 9383
2 25544 51.6410 119.0963 0007761 82.1251 278.0791 15.71768455 8986
NASA ISS TLE page
(provides the information for computing the ISS's orbit)
definition of TLE (Two-line Element) format
technical details regarding MCC ISS TLEs
Apparent difference in reference systems used by OIG and MCC TLEs
general ISS information
ISS orbit status
explanation of ISS Reference Frames (LVLH and XPOP)
ISS VRML 3D simulator
This looks interesting- Keyhole has been bought by Google.
- when you'll get an ISS Transit report, and when you won't -
I WON'T send you an email saying that you didn't have any transit matches if
Stated another way, you WILL get an alert if
Reference URLs:
Automated Plotting of Transit Tracks /
Plotting the transit tracks
ISS Transit report format, or "What the heck do all these columns of numbers mean?"
ISS Transit introduction
subscriber links
Worldview software
HowTo change email to a fixed-width font
Macro Express macros (see above link)
Viewing/photographing a sun transit with binoculars
Current photo of the sun, showing sunspots
Shuttle Radar Topography Mission
SRTM-30
dataset (04-12-30; you need to rename the w060n40.hgt file to w060n40.dem)
GTOPO30
Global Topographic Data
Alert radius can now be 0 (this currently doesn't work!)- a match is reported if travel_distance <= alert_radius + Field_J
See meaning of the "transit path width"
* To suspend email notifications, visit http://iss-transit.sourceforge.net/TransitAlert.html
(or http://j2ee-consultants.com/TransitAlertSignupBody.html) and update your record with name = suspend
to resume emails, update your record with your name.
Format of ISS Transit report:
name: Thomas Fly
latitude: 34.9161 N
longitude: 81.8844 W
elevation: 669 ft -- no longer used
geoid height: -30 meters (at subscriber's latitude & longitude)
geoid height is relative to WGS84 ellipsoid, + 3 meters
2 meters added to transform WGS84 (GPS) elevation to WGS72 (used in SGP4 orbit computation);
1 meter was added for the height of a typical telescope
for someone at sea level, geoid height is his altitude relative to the reference ellipsoid; i.e.,
Mean Sea Level elevation + this geoid height = height of telescope above WGS72 ellipsoid
EGM96 Earth Gravity Model
NGA EGM96 Geoid Calculator
alert radius: 80 mi time zone: -5.0 this alert: 21 Dec 2004 | 12:171 (U.S. EST) last alert: 16 Dec 2004 | 7:581
A - travel distance
B - date
C - time
D - elevation angle of the ISS
E - azimuth angle of the ISS ( + is East from North; - is W from N)
F - range
G - latitude for observing the transit
H - longitude
I - elevation (based upon SRTM-30 data set) above Mean Sea Level (meters)
J - how far can I be from the centerline?
For other than solar transits:
K - lunar transits: is space station sunlit?
planetary encounters: 1=Mercury; 2=Venus; 4=Mars; 5=Jupiter; 6=Saturn
L - sun elevation angle
M - sun/moon or sun/planet separation angle
A------- B----- C----- D--- E----- F--- G------- H-------- I--- J---- K L---- M----
21.7 N 13 Dec 60809 44.6 -94.7 307 35.2287 -81.9048 274 1.5 6 -15.8 145.6
After some experimentation, it appears that sending emails as plain text causes the least amount of grief. When I have some time, I'll make online reports an option (the online reports will remove salient identifying information, such as subscriber name & location).
One person reported a problem in reading his report (as plain text) and thinks it might be better to send them as HTML. Using Microsoft Outlook Express as my email program, I don't have this problem, because I always use the Courier New font:
These Outlook Express read-mail settings are shown below. I also show how to display the email source, using OE.
Example Outlook Express font settings
right-click 
This was only the second time I'd used a solar filter with my telescope, and the first time I'd tried to make a video of the sun. I'd planned a test run before leaving for the observation site, but I ran short of time.
At first, I couldn't get any discernible image at all out of the camera. It occurred to me that light pollution might be the problem; this was largely solved by draping a jacket over the webcam (aluminum foil would have been much better!). The weather didn't cooperate much either- blue skies were replaced by a thin overcast an hour before the event. Several hours later, it was back to clear skies!
An airliner flew over around this time. It's double contrail cast a striking shadow on the high clouds, which I noticed before noticing the contrail.
The observation site was between Gaffney, SC and Charlotte, NC. At the time, the ISS was 410 miles distant, some 225 miles above Birmingham, AL.
Ah well, next time....
April 4, 2005
- 21:12:46 UTC (5:12 PM EDT)
35.1332° N, 81.5102° W, 866 ft. MSL (where the roads cross, and on the
left)
Applicable Two Line Elements, for computing the ISS's orbit:
1 25544U 98067A 05094.16012146 .00020000 00000-0 20000-3 0 9008 2 25544 51.6428 279.7576 0006106 329.1416 30.9386 15.70643198 4041 1 25544U 98067A 05095.11451514 .00020000 00000-0 20000-3 0 9011 2 25544 51.6428 274.8808 0006350 333.8812 26.2028 15.70628622 4190
Reportedly, the ISS was in the +XVV +ZLV LVLH attitude mode - whatever that is. My ISS Transit email alert gave the following:
A - travel distance (miles) and direction B - date C - time (hhmmss) D - elevation angle of the ISS E - azimuth angle of the ISS ( + is East from North; - is W from N) F - range (miles) G - latitude for observing the transit H - longitude I - elevation above Mean Sea Level (meters) J - how far (miles) can I be from the centerline? (i.e., angular error = 0.25°) A------- B----- C----- D--- E----- F--- G------- H-------- I--- J---- 25.9 NE 4 Apr 171245 31.1 -105.9 409 35.1638 -81.5404 227 3.2 26.8 NE 4 Apr 171246 31.0 -105.8 410 35.1159 -81.4799 240 3.2