3 March 2008

Observing Location	McGraw Ave @ Virginia Ave, Bronx, NY
Observational Period	0515-0530 EST
Atmospheric Conditions	Cloud Cover Clear Temperature 38°F Wind Calm Humidity Moderate Barometric Pressure 30.32" Hg Rising Feels Like Cold I think it was clear since I was seeing stars over most of the sky, but I didn’t see the kite stars of Boo so there was probably some haze up there. Transparency Good Seeing
Instruments	Naked-eye - Charlie
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

0456 EST	Astronomical Twilight begins

Target ISS Visible Pass Constellation Category Satellite Time yyyymmdd.hhmm 20080303.0526 EST Comments The ISS appeared to be elongated along its axis of travel like a hyphen that was dimmer in the center than at the extents. first sighted 0526 EST applus Arcturus 0527:45 EST dimming 0529:0# EST lost behind buildings 0529:55 EST Start Time 0526:22 EST 0526:25 EST Alt. 18° 18.8° Az. SW 234.8° SW Mag.   -2.9 Max. Alt. Time 0528:21 EST 0528:21 EST Alt. 86° 86.2  Az. NW 323.6° NW Mag. -2.5 -4.5 applus Arcturus Time   0527:49.95 EST Ends Time 0531:15 EST 0533:15 EST Alt. 10° horizon Az. NE 53.9° NE Mag.   1.4

0527 EST	Astronomical Twilight ends Nautical Twilight begins
0559 EST	Nautical Twilight ends Civil Twilight begins
0627 EST	Civil Twilight ends Sunrise

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It appears that Endeavour is still on track for its scheduled very early Tuesday morning, 11Mar08, launch. I checked the NSAS web sight and can't find a Press Kit there yet but I did come up with a few mission briefing graphics that are interesting.

This is the current configuration of the ISS.

Here is a view of Endeavour's payload bay. It appears that we are going to be flying a lot of empty space. Most of the payload's mass appears to be towards the aft end of the payload bay.

One of the mission objectives will be the installation of the Dextre grappling fixture on the end of the ISS' Canadarm.

This is the target configuration for the end of the mission. Mission objectives are indicated by arrows.