[meteorite-list] Congrats! You saw a water dump...

From: Matson, Robert <ROBERT.D.MATSON_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:06:17 2004
Message-ID: <AF564D2B9D91D411B9FE00508BF1C86901B4E55D_at_US-Torrance.mail.saic.com>

Hi Colin,

> ... nothing very meteoritic happening here in Qatar. Last
> night I had the privilige of seeing the ISS persued by the
> shuttle , as it crossed Abu Dhabi west to east, 7 hours from
> docking. The exhaust fron the motors was clearly visible by
> eye, & fantastic by bins. The gas ( ice crystals ? ) was
> being blown in the shape of a mirrored "c" ( or an arabic 6 )
> so that it appeared to overtake the shuttle.

Based on your description, you saw a waste-water dump from
the Shuttle. Lucky you! (I've never seen one myself). The
water immediately turns to ice, and in short order should
appear to speed ahead of the Shuttle due to its higher
relative drag. I know that sounds contradictory, but what
happens is that drag lowers the orbit of the ice particles
relative to the Shuttle, and the lower in orbit you are the
faster you go.

Cheers,
Rob
Received on Tue 26 Nov 2002 01:50:20 AM PST