Observation of a Contrail at 65 km from the Shuttle

Details Observation of a Contrail at 65 km from the Shuttle Observation of a Contrail at 65 km from the Shuttle

Dec 2001

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2001agufmsa41b0736b&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2001, abstract #SA41B-0736

Physics

0320 Cloud Physics And Chemistry

Scientific paper

Polar Mesospheric Clouds (PMCs) occur at latitudes north of 55 during the period from late June to early August. Inspired by our work with WINDII images of PMCs, a project to photograph Polar Mesospheric Clouds was undertaken in June, 1995 by the astronauts on STS-71. After many null observations, a photograph was taken on June 29, 1995 around ground sunset below the shuttle. A linear cloud similar in appearance to a jet contrail at sunset was photographed. The location was approximately at 55 N, 25 E. The analysis of the photograph will be described. Using the volcanic stratospheric aerosol layer as an altitude reference, the feature was determined to be at 65 km. It could not be a PMC since our WINDII research has determined that the PMC altitude is usually at 83 km with a variance of less than 3 km, based on an analysis of over 10,000 images. The possible explanations include a rocket exhaust trail, an ablation trail from a meteorite skipping off the atmosphere or a contrail from a high flying jet aircraft. The 65 km level is the penetration altitude for a meteorite which skips off the earth's atmosphere. Previously, three such meteorite skip events have been recorded by ground observations, including one in 1972. A related phenomenon would be the reentry of a piece of orbital space debris. A rocket trail is possible but would likely be vertical in extent rather than horizontal. The most intriguing possibility is a jet contrail; such a jet aircraft would have to have the capability to cruise at 65 km, implying a speed in excess of Mach 5. Possible candidate aircraft will be considered. Our search for other similar events in satellite data will be described.

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