Satellite to streak just above Hawaii’s horizon
Star-Bulletin staff
Spy satellite USA 193 will be visible in Hawaii skies tonight, weather permitting, as it passes low over the northwestern horizon.
Internet surfers can also keep track of the satellite's progress by visiting the Heavens Above Web site at heavens-above.com.
On Oahu, people on the North Shore will have the best view, particularly in areas without a lot of light pollution. It will also be visible from parts of Kauai.
USA 193 will pop into view as a fast-moving speck of light over the western horizon at about 7:35 p.m.
It will travel toward the north but will never get higher than 12 degrees above the horizon from vantage points on Oahu and 16 degrees on Kauai. (Straight up is 90 degrees.) The satellite will blink out of view after 7:39 p.m.
Sunset is at 6:29 p.m.
USA 193 has lost about 60 miles in orbital altitude over the last year and is now about 160 miles up. The lower it goes, the more drag it experiences in the upper atmosphere, which accelerates its descent.
Unless shot down by missile, as the military is now proposing, it would plummet to Earth once it reaches an altitude of about 62 miles, according to Heavens Above.
