Satellites galore!!

[Liz]

Is it just me, or has anyone noticed the huge increase of visible satellites on the heavens-above website?
Used to be about 5-6 a night, then suddenly it has jumped to about 20!! :eyepop:
Has there been a huge influx sent off recently?
Some are quite bright eg, the Atlas 2A Centaur R/B is -0.1 tonight!! Also others like H-2A,2Z-2cR/B, GOCE... bucketloads of new (to me) ones, that I havent noticed before.
Lots of goodies to look out for anyway. :) :thumbsup:

[renormalised]

More space junk!!!!:eyepop::D:P

[Liz]

Must be a dangerous place up there. :help:

Tonight we have the Atlas 2A Centaur R/B at 0.0 mag!! How come so bright, is it a biggie??

Ok ... its an American rocket body that goes from mag 2.7 to -3.4 .... launched in 1963!!
Oh, so its leftovers from a previous launch.

Atlas-Centaurhttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/72/Surveyor_1_launch.jpg/270px-Surveyor_1_launch.jpg (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/wiki/File:Surveyor_1_launch.jpg)
An Atlas-Centaur launching Surveyor 1 (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/wiki/Surveyor_1)FunctionExpendable launch system (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/wiki/Expendable_launch_system)Manufactur erConvair (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/wiki/Convair)
General Dynamics (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/wiki/General_Dynamics)Country of originUnited StatesLaunch historyStatusRetiredLaunch sitesLC-36 (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/wiki/Cape_Canaveral_Air_Force_Station_La unch_Complex_36), Cape Canaveral (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/wiki/Cape_Canaveral_Air_Force_Station)To tal launches61Successes51Failures8Parti al failures2Maiden flight9 May 1962Last flight19 May 1983
The Atlas-Centaur was an American expendable launch system (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/wiki/Expendable_launch_system) derived from the SM-65 Atlas (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/wiki/SM-65_Atlas) missile. It was a member of the Atlas (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/wiki/Atlas_(rocket_family)) family of rockets, and was used for 61 orbital (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/wiki/Orbit) launches between 1962 and 1983.[1] (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/#cite_note-EA-0) It was replaced by the Atlas G (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/wiki/Atlas_G), which still contains a Centaur upper stage on top of an Atlas rocket. It was the first rocket to use cryogenic fuel (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/wiki/Cryogenic_fuel); the Centaur stage burned liquid hydrogen (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/wiki/Liquid_hydrogen) and liquid oxygen (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/wiki/Liquid_oxygen).