The Starshine project needs your help. Our Starshine 3 satellite is
expected to come to the end of its orbital life in mid to late January
2003. By then, it will have descended far enough into the earth’s
atmosphere that its 1500 student-polished aluminum mirrors and structural
shell will experience intense aerodynamic heating. At about 50 kilometers
(30 miles) above the earth, it will flare up and vaporize, like a
slow-moving meteor. If this visually spectacular event occurs in your
vicinity, under reasonably clear skies, and if you are outside, looking up
at the right time, you might be able to see it and even photograph it. If
so, we need to know from you when it flamed out and where it was in your
local sky at that time. Please go to our web site at
http://www.azinet.com/starshine
and read the information about this
forthcoming Starshine special event. Your school or club might even win a
scale model kit of the International Space Station for taking the best
photograph or digital image or videotape of the Starshine 3 fireball.
Gil Moore
Director, Project Starshine
Monument, Colorado, USA
E-mail: GilMoore12@aol.com
