Spotting Shenzhou V: Oct. 15, 2003
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These data were provided by satellite tracking expert Rob Matson, who notes that the flyby times discussed below are best estimates--uncertain by several minutes at least. To improve your chances of seeing the spacecraft "go outside 10 minutes early," he recommends.

Shenzhou V will make three visible passes over the United States on Wednesday morning, Oct. 15th. The ground tracks are pictured below:

PASS #1:

"For those in the Boston area," says Matson, "Shenzhou 5 (and its passenger!) should make a terrific pass Wednesday morning beginning around 5:57 am EDT, low in the WSW. It will be heading upward toward Taurus, passing 5 degrees to the lower left of the Moon, and culminating a bit higher than Saturn around 5:58:40 based on the following search elements kindly provided by Ted Molczan:

Shenzhou 5       7.8  2.5  0.0  5.4 d
1 70001U          03288.67700930  .00036000  00000-0  19749-3 0    17
2 70001  42.4080  26.2791 0004797 163.8920 321.6647 15.78791273   101

"New York City will have nearly a zenith pass, while the pass as seen from Philadelphia will be very high in the north. Even from Washington, D.C., the pass will culminate more than 60 degrees above the NNW (around 5:57:15 am EDT)."


PASS #2:

"This one starts over southern Nebraska (11:28 UT) and heads across Iowa, northern Illinois--directly over Chicago at 11:31 UT!--southern Michigan, Lake Erie and westernmost New York at 11:33 UT. Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio and northwest Pennsylvania will all have good views of this pass."


PASS #3:

"The spacecraft will make a pass low in the north tomorrow morning for the Los Angeles area beginning just before 6:00 am PDT. Look for Shenzhou 5 to come out of the earth's shadow directly beneath Cassiopeia about 17 degrees above the northwest horizon around 5:59:30 am. It will be moving left to right, and will pass about halfway between Polaris and the horizon t 6:00:30 am."

"The pass will be much better for those near the San Francisco Bay area, with Shenzhou 5 making its appearance near epsilon-Cas (the highest star in Cassiopeia) at ~5:59:20, high in the northwest. 30 seconds later it will pass about 8 degrees above Polaris, heading for the center of the Big Dipper, just below the bowl." The spacecraft will make a similar pass over Reno, Nevada, shortly thereafter.


Ground track coordinates at 30-second intervals for 
the three sunlit tracks across the U.S. on Wednesday morning:

 UTC Date  UTC Time   Latitude   Longitude
---------- --------   --------   ---------
2003/10/15  9:56:30   39.5208    -80.8844
2003/10/15  9:57:00   40.0831    -78.5491
2003/10/15  9:57:30   40.5924    -76.1749
2003/10/15  9:58:00   41.0468    -73.7646
2003/10/15  9:58:30   41.4449    -71.3213
2003/10/15  9:59:00   41.7850    -68.8487
2003/10/15  9:59:30   42.0659    -66.3510
2003/10/15 10:00:00   42.2865    -63.8325

2003/10/15 11:28:00   39.9806   -102.2201
2003/10/15 11:28:30   40.5001    -99.8531
2003/10/15 11:29:00   40.9651    -97.4494
2003/10/15 11:29:30   41.3739    -95.0121
2003/10/15 11:30:00   41.7251    -92.5448
2003/10/15 11:30:30   42.0173    -90.0515
2003/10/15 11:31:00   42.2494    -87.5366
2003/10/15 11:31:30   42.4204    -85.0048
2003/10/15 11:32:00   42.5297    -82.4610
2003/10/15 11:32:30   42.5768    -79.9105
2003/10/15 11:33:00   42.5614    -77.3586

2003/10/15 12:59:00   39.8766   -125.8885
2003/10/15 12:59:30   40.4061   -123.5287
2003/10/15 13:00:00   40.8815   -121.1317
2003/10/15 13:00:30   41.3011   -118.7005
2003/10/15 13:01:00   41.6633   -116.2386
2003/10/15 13:01:30   41.9667   -113.7499
2003/10/15 13:02:00   42.2102   -111.2387
2003/10/15 13:02:30   42.3929   -108.7097
2003/10/15 13:03:00   42.5138   -106.1678
2003/10/15 13:03:30   42.5727   -103.6182
2003/10/15 13:04:00   42.5691   -101.0662

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