Look, Up In The Sky, It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s Cosmos!

Look, Up In The Sky, It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s Cosmos! was Originally Posted on February 20, 2012 by lavarock

Living in the middle of the Pacific, it is unusual to see a high altitude plane crossing the sky. That is because with few exceptions, we are a hub for airplanes but they rarle fly over at high altitude on their way to other places. When they leave Honolulu, they get some altitude but are headed ib very specific directions. Over my house is not a common direction.

Due east of me is Mexico City. Yes, I’m THAT far south and flights would generally go to the states and then down to Mexico.

We have been getting a lot of vog lately. Vog is volcanic smog, not unlike smog itself. That plus water vapor tends to make it a bit hazy at times. If I travel north of Kona it is more likely to be clear skys.

Still, even with my fuzzy eyesight and fuzzy sky conditions, it is possible to see satellites with the naked eye. As I walked the dogs this morning at 5:30am I saw a faint light move across the sky at high altitude. I pulled out my smart phone and brought up the Satgellite program to see what was overhead. Using GPS to determine my location, it said the satellite overhead was Cosmos 1844.

It was launched by the USSR in 1987 and still circles overhead. It was (is) a Soviet intellegence satellite weighing 6000 kg.

Information about the bird was obtained here: http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraftDisplay.do?id=1987-041A and if you would like to see where it or other satellites are at the moment, try this link: http://www.n2yo.com/?s=17973

I have told the story here before I think about the OSCAR satellites and when I was the only person using an Anik commercial satellite.

Ham radio operators have their own satellites in orbit, starting in 1961. The earliest one still operating was launched in 1974!

The satellite was in full operation until 1981 when a battery failed. On June 21st 2002 worldwide hams were amazed to hear the satellite come to life! After 27 years in space and 21 years of being broken, that short circuit opened on its own and the solar panels could charge the batteries.

Among uses for Hams to talk with each other and learn about space, the Oscar 7 also demonstrated a medical data relay capability and testing for search and rescue.

The OSCAR series of named satellites stand for Orbiting Satellite Carrying Amateur Radio. They were the first non-governmental orbiting items which also allowed licensed Hams in other countries to communicate with each other.

Anyone with a bit of equipment can listen to the satellite signals as they pass over and it only takes a Ham licdense to be able to talk to an Oscar satellite.

During many of the Shuttle flights, Hams could talk directly to Astronauts; sometimes using a walkie talkie and beam antenna. Hams would go to schools and set up demonstrations.

In this world on Internet and cellphones, young adults may not comprehend the magnatude of that ability, considering that NASA and other countries used giant antennas and massive equipment to communicate to the same flights Still, if their massive antennas were not functing, I am sure one of the schools online at the time would have been able to take up the slack