
UARS satellite: New images of tumbling spacecraft - seewhat
http://legault.perso.sfr.fr/uars_110915.html
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brfox
I can't decide if this is a dumb question or not, but why does something like
the ISS always face the surface of the Earth in the same direction? For
example:

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=7...](http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=74mhQyuyELQ)

I know the reason the moon is always facing the same face toward us is because
it has locked its own rotational rate to match it orbital rate due to "tidal
like" forces acting back on the moon.

So, maybe I just answered my own question, I guess they purposefully added a
rotational component to the ISS so that it is always facing the surface as it
orbits? Why do that instead of staying fixed according to the stars? Maybe
that is too disorienting for the astronauts.

~~~
ldite
Control Moment Gyroscopes:

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Control_moment_gyroscope#Intern...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Control_moment_gyroscope#International_Space_Station)

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aw3c2
Is there a page somewhere where I can see when it will be visible in certain
regions of the world?

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fbnt
<http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/uars/index.html>

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hRsgdyFQjM>

6.5 tons of equipment burning into the atmosphere should be visible at the
naked eye even in daylight.

~~~
narcissus
<http://heavens-above.com/> has satellite listings, too...

(Maybe not so reliable for a falling satellite I guess, though).

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rafedb
aliens

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sodiumphosphate
The sky is falling.

