Astro Insight

Tuesday, September 19, 2006 (9 PM CDT): Shuttle Atlantis Return Predictions

In light of a recent shuttle Atlantis return delay due to falling a mysterious object off the ship in orbit, one becomes curious about the influence of planets on event such as this.  On August 27, in this column shuttle launch predictions were presented (see below) with the assumption that the shuttle will return on the scheduled date of September 15. However, the scheduled return was postponed twice due to weather and falling off of mysterious object as mentioned above. With this new situation the latest predictions are as follows:

As in the past the planets that are likely to influence the shuttle launch and return and create concerns regarding its safety are: Pluto, Saturn, and Mars.  At this point Saturn and Mars seem to be benign; but the squares of lunar nodes (North node or Rahu and South node or Ketu) with Pluto are likely to create challenges that the shuttle is likely to face during Sept 20 – Oct 18 period. Therefore, from planetary standpoint, it becomes a cause for serious concern for the shuttle’s safe return.

What are the likely outcomes?  Well…since the shuttle is rescheduled to return on Wednesday, September 20, the possibility of having its return further postponed or having problems during its return to earth is about 60-65%. If it attempts to return to earth on Saturday (September 23) or beyond, then possibility of going something wrong during its return becomes higher (up to 80-85%) until at least October 9. If the shuttle return is postponed until after October 18, then it’s likely to successfully complete its mission.

Comments:  

September 21: Shuttle returns safely

Sunday, August 27, 2006 (11:00 AM CDT): Shuttle Atlantis Launch Predictions

In light of a recent shuttle launch delay due to severe weather conditions, one becomes curious about the influence of planets on event such as this.  As in the past the planets that are likely to influence the shuttle launch and create concerns regarding its safety are: Pluto, Saturn, and Mars.  At this point Saturn seems to be benign; but the Mars-Pluto square which occurs during August 28 – 31 may become responsible for cause for a serious concern.  What are the likely outcomes?  Well…since the shuttle is rescheduled to launch on Tuesday, August 29, the possibility of having it’s launch further postponed or having problems during or right after take-off is about 60-65%. If it takes off on Tuesday, then despite a smooth take-off, possibility of going something wrong in space still remains high (up to 80-85%) until the end of August. If the shuttle survives through August 31, then it’s likely to successfully complete its mission. In the event the shuttle launch gets rescheduled beyond August 31, it’s likely to be launched successfully and completes its mission.

Comments:  

Aug 29:  The shuttle launch is tentatively re-scheduled for September 6 or 7.

September 9: Atlantis blasted off and on its way to space station.

July 2, 2006 (10:30 AM CDT): Shuttle Discovery Launch Predictions

In light of a possibility of shuttle launch delay due to thunderstorms, one becomes curious about the influence of planets on event such as this.  As in the past the planets that are likely to influence the shuttle launch and create concerns regarding its safety are: Pluto, Saturn, and Mars.  At this point they all seem to be benign and the only thing that could come in the way of this launch is Mercury which turns retrograde on July 5 and stays retrograde till July 29.  What it means?  Well…if shuttle launches before July 5, it will be a safe launch but it might face problems in space in terms delay, frustration, and nuisance during the retrograde Mercury.  Other possibility…if shuttle launch gets delayed beyond July 5, the launch may get postponed till next month or so. In general, it is not very likely that this launch will end up in a disaster.  The mission may not be successful…or will have difficulty meeting its goals…but not likely to result in a tragedy.

Comments: 

Shuttle was launched on July 4; it was reasonably successful in achieving its mission and it returned home safely.

 Space Shuttle Discovery Launch Predictions

July 24 2005 (10 AM CDT):

After the abrupt abortion of the scheduled launch of space shuttle Discovery due to malfunction in fuel system little over a week ago it is now rescheduled to be launched on Tuesday, July 26, 2005. As a result, I wondered about planetary configurations (astrology) that might shade some light on outcome for the scheduled launch.  In order to gain some insight for safety and success of the space shuttle launch, I analyzed planetary configurations for both the Challenger disaster that occurred on January 28, 1986 and Columbia disaster on February 1, 2003. The following (in my view) summarizes the planetary effects that could have become responsible for those unfortunate events:

Challenger Disaster:   Jan 28, 1986

Pluto-Saturn ninefold square and Mars-Pluto ninefold opposition.  

Pluto being a planet which is usually responsible for accidents and disasters (perhaps it’s a part of transformation process necessary for human evolution) and Saturn, another dominant planet usually responsible for unfortunate situations, it seems to me that the challenger disaster might have been influenced by Pluto-Saturn ninefold square.  In addition Mars-Pluto ninefold opposition, Mars being the fierce planet connected to fire and fire related accidents, has certainly further help crystallize that unfortunate event.

Columbia Disaster:  February 1, 2003

Pluto-Saturn opposition, Mars-Pluto ninefold square, and Saturn-Pluto ninefold quincunx, and both Pluto and Mars in sidereal Scorpio.

Again Pluto, Saturn, and Mars play important role through undesirable aspects (squares, oppositions, and quincunxes) in influencing the event negatively.

An important observation and a common factor between these two disasters seems to be a particular point on zodiac.  It’s about 27-28 degree of sidereal Scorpio (or about 20-21 degree of tropical Sagittarius).  However, I must warn you that this observation is only based on two data points (two above events), and therefore any conclusion one might draw is likely to be very premature. 

Discovery Launch:  July 26, 2005

Now, let’s examine the planetary positions for July 26, 2005, especially from the standpoint of aspects between Pluto, Saturn and Mars. There’s only one aspect…Pluto-Saturn ninefold opposition, and it occurs during July 30 – August 3. Also, Saturn-Mars ninefold square occurs during July 29 – Aug 2.  And Mercury is retrograde (July 23 – Aug 17).  Note that Mercury was not retrograde when both the Challenger and Columbia disasters occurred. 

Based on the planetary aspects of the past disasters the outcome for the upcoming launch, in my opinion, is likely to be one of the following possibilities: 

1. The scheduled flight likely to be delayed or postponed (retrograde Mercury)….a 60% possibility
2. A 30% possibility exists for problem during the time of return to the Earth
3. A 10% possibility for problem at the time of take off
4. Everything’s going smooth…..about 40% possibility

Comments:

July 29: Discovery commander surprised by debris problem

Aug 6:  Shuttle returns home safely