Spaceflight Research, LLC

04/26/2021

Another late season satellite photo, this is USA 186 or object 28888. I am surprised at how late in the year I can still track satellites, it is unusually cool and dry right now. The satellite streak is on the lower left side.

09/28/2020

Here is something new: a book review. "Tumbleweed Six Months Living on Mir" is by Shannon Lucid. I got it because I worked closely with Shannon on STS-58 and on Mir and wanted to see what her view was. This was definitely written by Shannon, it sounds like her. It is more of a book about dealing with the people around her, about working in a bureaucracy (the Soviets as well as NASA), and how it affected her. There is no detail about how science experiments were selected, how they worked, etc. It is good if you are interested in working with the Russians, if you are interested in Mir, etc. I recommend it, you can buy it on Amazon.

07/20/2020

People who visit this page will find this article interesting, it is about satellites with low perigees. If you have any questions let me know.
https://www.thespacereview.com/article/3989/1

07/14/2020

A photo of USA 245, the streak on the left side of the image. I only got it going out of the Field of View but it is commendable that I am able to track in July! Normally the seeing is terrible at this time of the year.

05/15/2020

It turns out that you CAN get some really good photos with inexpensive gear - here is the first flare that I got, a StarLink satellite.

The flare is in the bottom right of the photo.

02/27/2020

Just submitted a proposal to the US National Science Foundation, for funding to build a small satellite. Wish me luck!

01/11/2020

Here is another photo of USA 281, it is easy to track and is great for refining my techniques. I am going to go after USA 290 hopefully this evening.

11/26/2019

One of my latest things to learn - how to track satellites. I am making slow progress, taking photos of satellites as they go overhead. Here is USA 281 and USA 287, two satellites who's orbital parameters do not appear in the satellite catalog. These are not as usable since the streaks run off of the edge of the image but my technique is getting better.

11/20/2019

At SpaceCom to try to make some connections

10/29/2019

I wrote an article for The Space Review, about a possible way to associate unknown objects with the launch which delivered them to orbit. The technique is still in development but could be interesting to people that follow satellites.

08/27/2019

Submitted a proposal today to the National Science Foundation - for funding to design and fly a small satellite. Wish us luck!