Space Weather News for January 19, 2003 http://www.spaceweather.com The glittering Starshine 3 satellite, built by schoolkids and launched in Sept. 2001, will soon re-enter Earth's atmosphere. Can you spot the fireball? Re-entry estimates vary from 0500 UT (midnight EST) to 1330 UT (8:30 EST) on Tuesday, Jan. 21st. Although Starshine is likely to re-enter above some unpopulated stretch of ocean, the satellite's final orbit does carry it over North America and eastern Europe where sky watchers might see it. "There's no danger to anyone on the ground," says Prof. Gil Moore, the director of Project Starshine. "We designed the satellite so that it will be 100% consumed about 80 km up." Except for a few small steel screws the body of the spacecraft is made entirely of aluminum--a substance that will vaporize during the bright and fiery descent. Visit spaceweather.com for more information about Starshine 3 as well as links to the latest re-entry predictions (they will improve between now and Tuesday) and photo tips, too! Jeff Hopkins HPO SOFT ********************************************************************* Phoenix, Arizona Atlanta, Georgia 7812 West Clayton Drive 12170 Boxwood Circle Phoenix, AZ 85033-2439 U.S.A. Alpharetta, GA 30005 U.S.A. (623) 849-5889 (Fax) (770) 619-3322 (Phone/Fax) www.hposoft.com & amug.org/~hposoft dataman.home.mindspring.com 4th Dimension Partner FileMaker Pro Expert BASIC/C++ Programmer & Web Site/e-commerce Site Development Over 25 years of Computer, Programming and Database Development Experience -- See message header for info on list archives or unsubscribing, and please send personal replies to the author, not the list.