Calgary's First Space Shuttle Sighting

Calgary's First Space Shuttle Sighting

On November 29, 1983, the Space Shuttle Columbia thrilled observers in Calgary during its first high-inclination mission. 39 years later, I calculated its orbit to show what we saw.

An ISS pass over Calgary in 2019 was similar to the 1983 Columbia event.

Columbia, the first operational Space Shuttle, embarked on its first flight in April of 1981. The ninth Shuttle flight in November 1983, known as STS-9, saw Columbia carry the first Spacelab laboratory module into orbit. During this mission, the Shuttle travelled in a high-inclination orbit, tilted 57^o to the equator, and for the first time could be observed from northern latitudes including Calgary.

Thanks to Don Hladiuk's heads-up, many people including myself witnessed the passage of Columbia over Calgary on the evening of November 29. I've reprinted two contemporary accounts of the event below.

An account of the Columbia passage published in the November 30, 1983 edition of the Calgary Herald

Don Hladiuk's report in the January 1984 issue of The Starseeker, newsletter of the Calgary Centre of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada

After recently reading these articles, I was interested in figuring out exactly how Columbia appeared above Calgary on the evening of November 29, as the descriptions from that night were general and in some cases downright contradictory.

I had three key facts that constrained the parameters of the orbit:

1. The launch at 9:00 AM MST on November 28, 1983, from the Kennedy Space Center.
2. A photograph of Columbia's motion across the sky from the United Kingdom on November 28.
3. A pair of my own photographs from the December 1 passage over Calgary.

The right ascension of the ascending node was set by the position of the launch site. The inclination was obtained from elements at the end of the mission. The orbit was essentially circular, simplifying the solution. The mean anomaly was set from the launch time and the United Kingdom observation, while the mean motion (revolutions per day) was derived from the Calgary passage three days later. Minor tweaks resulted in an excellent match between the predictions using SkyMap Pro 9 and the observations.

The final two-line element set (TLE) was as follows:

Columbia
1 14523U 83116  A 83332.74305556  .00006041 +89735-5 +40999-3 0  9998
2 14523 057.0194 207.0600 0004901 239.7371 218.0000 16.08700000000000

Using these elements, I show in the following illustrations the circumstances of the Shuttle mission.

The STS-9 Press Kit, page 31, is on the left. It shows the ascent trajectory from the Kennedy Space Center.
On the right is the ground track following the launch from Florida on November 28, 1983 at 9:00 AM MST. Less than two hours later, Columbia passed over the United Kingdom, where it was photographed in the evening twilight, as described below.
Click on the pictures for an enlargement.

The only public photograph of Columbia during STS-9 that I have found was published in the March 1984 issue of Sky and Telescope, page 265. Compare its track with the SkyMap Pro prediction on the right.
As a check on the accuracy of my orbital elements, there is a perfect match if the actual observing site was at 50^o58'.0 N latitude, 0^o58'.8 W longitude, only 11 km north of Havant.
The exposure started at 5:52:30 PM GMT on November 28, 1h52m after launch.
Click on the pictures for an enlargement.

During my analysis of Columbia's encounter over Calgary, I found two slides in my collection of the Shuttle's appearance on December 1. My notes indicated that the photographs were taken at 5:53 PM MST with an Olympic OM-1 camera and 28mm wide-angle lens at f/3.5. Exposure were 15 seconds each on Ektachrome 400.
The bright star above the center of this first photograph is Altair (Alpha Aquilae).
Click on the picture for an enlargement.

The SkyMap Pro 9 display from my NW Calgary location (51^o06' N latitude, 114^o09' W longitude) shows a perfect match with my photograph. The sky time is set to 5:53:34 PM, the start of the exposure. Its actual duration was 26 seconds.
Click on the picture for an enlargement.

The second exposure from December 1 from my NW Calgary location.
The bright star to the upper right is Altair (Alpha Aquilae) and the bright star to the lower left is Fomalhaut (Alpha Piscis Austrini).
Click on the picture for an enlargement.

The SkyMap Pro 9 sky display shows the continuation of Columbia's trail across the sky, with a perfect match to the second photograph. The exposure started at 5:54:09 PM, nine seconds after the end of the first exposure. The duration was 45 seconds.
Click on the picture for an enlargement.

Calgary's location is shown as a cross, very close to Columbia's path at the time of its flyby at 6:12 PM on November 29.
Click on the picture for an enlargement.

SkyMap Pro 9 display of the southwestern night sky from Calgary, showing six passes of Columbia on consecutive nights starting on November 29. The events occured nine minutes earlier each night. The termination of each track to the left (east) shows when the Shuttle entered the Earth's shadow.
The sky is plotted for 6:12 PM on November 29.
Click on the picture for an enlargement.

SkyMap Pro 9 display of the southwestern night sky from Calgary, showing the November 29 pass. The sky is plotted for 6:12 PM.
Click on the picture for an enlargement.

We can now go back to the two accounts of Columbia's appearance and fact-check them:

1. Don's description that the Shuttle "moved across the sky northwest to southeast" is correct.

2. That Columbia's arrival was "two minutes later than they had figured" is due to the fact that the 6:08 PM passage over Vancouver referred to the first appearance of the Shuttle, which was two minutes before its closest approach.

3. The Calgary Herald article said that the "100-tonne craft was almost overhead", but the maximum altitude was 55.0^o at 6:12:45 PM.

4. The same article states that "Two minutes after the big lab first appeared as a pinpoint in the southwest it vanished in the northeast"; the directions are incorrect, but start and end times of 6:11:15 and 6:13:15 PM (when the Shuttle entered the Earth's shadow) are plausible.


	I imported Columbia's TLE data into Celestia to show its close approach to Calgary on November 29, 1983. Right-click on the display to select "Loop" for a repeating display.


			The only public photograph of Columbia during STS-9 that I have found was published in the March 1984 issue of Sky and Telescope, page 265. Compare its track with the SkyMap Pro prediction on the right. As a check on the accuracy of my orbital elements, there is a perfect match if the actual observing site was at 50^o58'.0 N latitude, 0^o58'.8 W longitude, only 11 km north of Havant. The exposure started at 5:52:30 PM GMT on November 28, 1h52m after launch. Click on the pictures for an enlargement.


		During my analysis of Columbia's encounter over Calgary, I found two slides in my collection of the Shuttle's appearance on December 1. My notes indicated that the photographs were taken at 5:53 PM MST with an Olympic OM-1 camera and 28mm wide-angle lens at f/3.5. Exposure were 15 seconds each on Ektachrome 400. The bright star above the center of this first photograph is Altair (Alpha Aquilae). Click on the picture for an enlargement.


		The SkyMap Pro 9 display from my NW Calgary location (51^o06' N latitude, 114^o09' W longitude) shows a perfect match with my photograph. The sky time is set to 5:53:34 PM, the start of the exposure. Its actual duration was 26 seconds. Click on the picture for an enlargement.


		The second exposure from December 1 from my NW Calgary location. The bright star to the upper right is Altair (Alpha Aquilae) and the bright star to the lower left is Fomalhaut (Alpha Piscis Austrini). Click on the picture for an enlargement.


		The SkyMap Pro 9 sky display shows the continuation of Columbia's trail across the sky, with a perfect match to the second photograph. The exposure started at 5:54:09 PM, nine seconds after the end of the first exposure. The duration was 45 seconds. Click on the picture for an enlargement.


	Calgary's location is shown as a cross, very close to Columbia's path at the time of its flyby at 6:12 PM on November 29. Click on the picture for an enlargement.


	SkyMap Pro 9 display of the southwestern night sky from Calgary, showing six passes of Columbia on consecutive nights starting on November 29. The events occured nine minutes earlier each night. The termination of each track to the left (east) shows when the Shuttle entered the Earth's shadow. The sky is plotted for 6:12 PM on November 29. Click on the picture for an enlargement.