[ATMoB-discuss] Shuttle launch article in Eagle Trib

[Glenn M]

Great work Peter!  

It crossed my mind that this writer and her paper might be sympathetic to
the subject of light pollution... How many of their readers realize how much
of the night sky they're blinded to by the poor lighting choices of
neighbors, businesses, and the public works department?  

If you haven't already, you should invite her out to the clubhouse on some
dark starry night and see if there's interest. Could even put her in touch
with several great sources/efforts if there's interest (Mario, NELPAG,
Acton, Gloucester...)

...gm
Glenn


-----Original Message-----
From: atmob-discuss-bounces at atmob.org
[mailto:atmob-discuss-bounces at atmob.org] On Behalf Of Peter Bealo
Sent: Thursday, December 07, 2006 7:32 AM
To: valleli at rcn.com; 'ATMOB-discuss'
Subject: RE: [ATMoB-discuss] Shuttle launch article in Eagle Trib


Paul,

You've got all the issues. But don't throw out the baby with the
bathwater...The Eagle Trib (at least) insist that THEIR reporter write the
story - they will not use an article I write...so the choice is an article
full of (mostly) minor errors or no article. Being the Product Line Mgr that
I am, I go with the adage "perfect is the enemy of the good enough"...so
I'll take it.

BTW..this reporter is not a neophyte, she just doesn't know the subject
matter. But she does care enough to go out and get multiple sources.

Peter


-----Original Message-----
From: valleli at rcn.com [mailto:valleli at rcn.com] 
Sent: Wednesday, December 06, 2006 10:18 PM
To: Peter Bealo; 'ATMOB-discuss'
Subject: Re: [ATMoB-discuss] Shuttle launch article in Eagle Trib

Gosh, Peter, neophyte reporters can really mess things up, can't they ?

The newspaper ends up with a bunch of hype that will leave the average
reader greatly disappointed. Spaceflight alone, is awesome enough without
hyperbole.

Here are the errors I spotted:
1. The shuttle will pass east-southeast of NH
2. It will only be about 7 degrees above the horizon, trees or buildings may
easily block it from view. 3. I have never heard reports of a passage
brighter than 2nd magnitude,one hundredth or so fainter than a plane's
landing lights. 4. There are no flames at T+7:00 only hot blue-white exhaust
from the burning of Hydrogen and O2. 5. A night launch is used when NASA
doesn't want to delay a month to get a rendezvous opportunity. That has
nothing to do with a normal landing, just an emergency one. 6. Viewing time
with binoculars will be about three to five minutes with a clear view of an
ocean horizon, not 30 mins. Separation of the fuel tank from the orbiter may
be seen if there are no intervening clouds. A wide angle telescope may be
able to view a "go for orbit".

What other errors did I miss?
Paul
 


_______________________________________________
ATMoB-discuss mailing list
ATMoB-discuss at atmob.org
http://lists.atmob.org/mailman/listinfo/atmob-discuss