WZ7U
03-27-2018, 05:31 PM
I was reading through the Space Weather website about the Chinese space station re-entry into the atmosphere and came to this part, which floored me
"Initially, Chinese officials speculated that re-entry would occur in late 2017. However, low solar activity delayed the splashdown. Sunspot numbers have plummeted recently as the solar cycle heads toward a deep solar minimum:
http://spaceweather.com/repeat_images/solarcycle_strip.jpg (http://spaceweather.com/repeat_images/solarcycle.jpg?PHPSESSID=70cmpfd0vi0fjqk58411jc64p 2)
Without sunspots, the sun's extreme ultraviolet radiation decreased. Earth's upper atmosphere cooled and contracted, reducing aerodynamic friction that would otherwise bring Tiangong-1 down. "Late 2017" became the spring of 2018."
So, low sunspots aren't just bad for upper HF propagation anymore. It helps keep space debris in space. Lucky me I'm above the predicted latitude of re-entry.
Article - you'll have to scroll down a bit to get to it - here http://spaceweather.com/
"Initially, Chinese officials speculated that re-entry would occur in late 2017. However, low solar activity delayed the splashdown. Sunspot numbers have plummeted recently as the solar cycle heads toward a deep solar minimum:
http://spaceweather.com/repeat_images/solarcycle_strip.jpg (http://spaceweather.com/repeat_images/solarcycle.jpg?PHPSESSID=70cmpfd0vi0fjqk58411jc64p 2)
Without sunspots, the sun's extreme ultraviolet radiation decreased. Earth's upper atmosphere cooled and contracted, reducing aerodynamic friction that would otherwise bring Tiangong-1 down. "Late 2017" became the spring of 2018."
So, low sunspots aren't just bad for upper HF propagation anymore. It helps keep space debris in space. Lucky me I'm above the predicted latitude of re-entry.
Article - you'll have to scroll down a bit to get to it - here http://spaceweather.com/