SeaSat Image 2008/06/21(UT)
Ralf Vandebergh
R.Vandebergh
| Ralf Vandebergh(250mm Newton) |
The old spacecraft SeaSat,orbiting the Earth since 1978. Seasat was the first Earth-orbiting satellite designed for remote sensing of the Earth's oceans and had onboard the first spaceborne synthetic aperture radar.It operated until only October 10. 1978. It's amazing to see this old legendary spacecraft back in my own images after all these years.(I was 2 years old when it lanched) For the observer it is really a kind mini-ISS.It resolves better then most satellites beside from the ISS.The pass was great;86 degrees overhead.Even for the naked-eye observer it looks like a mini-ISS. It is trackable long toward the horizon,but it is dimmer and moves slower due to the higher altitude.(images: 10in Newonian/manually tracked)Here is a comparison of 2 SeaSat observations with almost 1 minute time difference.This kind of observations is possible thanks to the high altitude so relative slow motion across the sky.During these captures,we see the satellite from different angles,but the elongated shape is obvious in all frames.In the second image,we see probably one of the radar antenna http://tinyurl.com/3jcyts from a certain angle.
[バンディバ:オランダ] [Ralf Vandebergh:Neighbourhood of Maastricht Netherlands]
 ALPO-Japan Latest
Oplanets Section
2008/06/25 [Hunting the lower orbit H2A rockets]
| 2008/06/11 [Genesis 1(inflatable spacecraft) & Seasat Image]
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