STS 127 SHUTTLE VISIBLE OVER IRELAND 19 MINUTES AFTER LIFTOF

I couldn't get over how bright it was or how fast it moved. I was expecting the speed of the ISS and for it to be dimmer than the ISS, what with it being a lot smaller. I wasn't expecting the orange colour of the fuel tank to be visible naked eye either.

An absolutely amazing sight.

Hi,
It was very cloudy here in Galway but I did manage to see the shuttle in the clear patch between two huge clouds.
Bright orange colour. Course an hour or so later when outside and it was lovely and clear. Typical!

ftodonoghue wrote:

THat was a fantastic sight. absolutely stunning. Just wondering if it was just me but did anyone else see the shuttle flare up briefly for about half a second or so towards the end of its pass!..maybe firing of an engine?

Trevor - I saw a bright flash alright but I wasn't sure if it sunlight glinting on the shuttle body or an engine firing or even just something to do with atmospherics. But myself and Fiona saw it alright.

Its great that there is so much interest in this event - I hope some of it might even find its way back to NASA - I'm sure the whole shuttle team and the astronauts would be delighted to know that there's a whole bunch of people down below who were thrilled.

Dave

Did anyone see a third object briefly following on after the main fuel tank (it was pretty faint). It only lasted for a few seconds and we wondering here could it have been the srbs (i wouldn't have thought so but is it possible)

The shuttle appeared a lot lower in the sky this time round compared to last year. Even my parents came out to watch the event.

Is there any update on the debris that was spotted.

Dave_Lillis wrote:

Nice video Frank,
Does anyone know where the tank burnt up over, or was it burning up as it passed over?, if so I thought it would have left a trail of some sorts ?
!

On a direct insertion trajectory as last nights one was
the external fuel tank will generally end up re-entering over the Pacific Ocean.
I would have thought yes that it was technically re-entering as it passed.

I also saw the shuttle brighten considerably towards the end of the pass
In the video I took there is even a small lens flare from the Shuttle
just before it went out of sight.

I also saw the same kind of brightening from the ISS on the pass directly
after that (angle of the sun?)

It'll be fun now over the next few nights to see them play catch up...

I'm pretty sure its not one of the SRBs - they are discarded less than 8 mins into flight - fall into the ocean, recovered and refurbished (in my understanding). Could have been a satellite - there are a lot of them up there.

Mark