Telescope Reviews: March 21 Spacewalk(EVA-2)additional work

Hi all,

I show here 2 frames,4 second apart of the location of the spacewalker at the P3 truss on EVA-2 on March 21.
Note how the expected astronaut is positioned oblique compared to the normal ISS-detail like the trusses and the elements of the solar arrays.This was for me one of the first confirmations this this must be one of the astronauts.

subject: 2009/03/21_EVA-2 (spacewalk) observations
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During a pass of the ISS with spaceshuttle Discovery STS-119 on March 21,
a 77 degrees North maximum pass, there was a spacewalk going on at the port side of
the station,exactly at the P3 truss.(EVA-2)They were installing the unpressurized cargo carrier
attachment system (UCASS).

Note that is was the luck that the spacewalkers were both at the P3 truss.
This truss is a very open structure,you can watch through it,and it appears normally reasonable
dark in images against the dark sky.This increases the chance to see one of the astronauts,
as they can be located in front and behind it and still be visible.

I compared the size of the spot which popped up in the best frames with known dimensions of part
of the solar arrays visible in the image.From live-images from the ISS I approximately know how the
size of a spacewalker compares to these parts.I then concluded,the dimensions of the spot are right.
Note that the full width of the truss isn't visible in this image,due to the particular lighting-angle.

Imaging: 10inch newtonian/ATIK instuments-ATK-2C /manuelly tracked)

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Ralf Vandebergh

Edited by Ralf Vandebergh (03/23/09 06:18 PM)