A4_11 Thunderbirds Are Go!

Abstract

Thunderbird 5, the space station belonging to International Rescue, is a secret that only the members of that organisation know about. As such, this paper investigates whether the station could have an apparent magnitude that is too faint for the naked human eye to discern from Earth. The luminosity of Thunderbird 5 is calculated using this assumed value, and a value for the implied albedo of Thunderbird 5 is found by comparison with the International Space Station. The albedo that is found is compared with the albedo of Comet 19P/Borrelly to examine its feasibility. The albedo required for Thunderbird 5 to be invisible from Earth is found to be impractically low and as such it is concluded that Thunderbird 5 would be visible from Earth.