The ESA's Automated Transfer Vehicle, Jules Verne, was packed with ISS garbage and undocked from ISS back on 5Sep08. Last night it was ditched in the South Pacific Ocean east of New Zealand.
ESA is so happy with the performance of this, the first ATV, that they want to investigate upgrades to the system to allow it to return cargo to earth and possible even using it to transoprt astronauts to and from ISS. With the problems we are having relative to the end of the Shuttle program before a replacement craft is available and our inability to contract for more Soyuz flights from the Russians this makes sense and is something I have been anticipating.
With the approach of the end of the Shuttle program and the impossibility of replacing major components of ISS I have been wondering how it will be ditched. At the end of the BBC story there is an indication that that will be a likely mission for the last ATV. It sounds like they will do it all at once rather than detaching large pieces and sending them into the pacific one at a time.
Sunspots Observed
This chart is getting monotonous. The last time I saw a spot was on 30Mar08, seven months ago. Space Weather indicates two areas of the sun where sunspots are trying to form. The area in the SW quadrant is a Cycle 23 event while the one in the NE quadrant belongs to Cycle 24. They are not spots yet and probably will be small when they first form so it is unlikely that I will see them both with my optics.
Observing Hours for the Year 2008
| Day | Night | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hours | Days | Avg | Hours | Days | Avg | Hours | Days | Avg | |
| Jan | 2.25 | 9 | 0.25 | 2.75 | 5 | 0.55 | 5.00 | 13 | 0.38 |
| Feb | 3.25 | 9 | 0.36 | 8.25 | 7 | 1.18 | 11.25 | 12 | 0.94 |
| Mar | 5.25 | 10 | 0.53 | 8.50 | 12 | 0.71 | 13.75 | 16 | 0.86 |
| Apr | 6.25 | 19 | 0.33 | 5.75 | 7 | 0.82 | 12.00 | 19 | 0.63 |
| May | 6.50 | 18 | 0.36 | 2.25 | 5 | 0.45 | 8.75 | 18 | 0.49 |
| Jun | 5.25 | 20 | 0.26 | 12.00 | 8 | 1.50 | 17.25 | 21 | 0.82 |
| Jul | 5.05 | 15 | 0.37 | 15.25 | 10 | 1.53 | 20.75 | 17 | 1.22 |
| Aug | 5.00 | 18 | 0.31 | 2.00 | 3 | 0.67 | 7.50 | 18 | 0.42 |
| Sep | 5.00 | 18 | 0.31 | 2.00 | 3 | 0.67 | 7.50 | 18 | 0.42 |
| TOTAL | 39.75 | 118 | 0.34 | 56.75 | 57 | 1.00 | 96.50 | 135 | 0.71 |
Climate Summary for June 2008
TemperatureIt has been warmer than normal for most of the month.
High Mean Low Above Normal 15 days 18 days 19 days Normal 1 day 1 day 0 days Below Normal 14 days 11 days 11 days 
Precipitation
I need to take another look at the formulas used to calculate the month to date and year to date graphs. They don't look right to me.
There was a new record for the date of 2.34 inches of rain set on 26Sep08.
Days with measurable precipitation 8 
Heating Degree Days
Half of the days this month had fewer than the normal number of heating degree days.
Above Normal 5 days Normal 10 days Below Normal 15 days 
Cooling Degree Days
There is a problem with the monthly cooling degree days to date for 10Sept08 that I have not been able to locate. The line should not go up on that date.
There were slightly more days with fewer than normal cooling degree days than greater than normal cooling degree days. At the end of the month the difference between the observed total and normal total were not that great for either the month or the year.
Above Normal 13 days Normal 1 day Below Normal 16 days 
