The first to note Lacrosse 2 absent was Russell Eberst in Edinburgh on March 30th - incidently, the very person who also saw it first in March 1991.
This prompted a watch by other observers, including me, who all confirmed the "no-show" of Lacrosse 2.
In the evening of April 1st, I conducted a photographic watch between 19:44:00 and 19:53:00 UTC, keeping continuous coverage of a 18 x 24 degree FOV centered on the nominal position predicted for the satellite for 19:47:30 UTC. Nothing was recorded (another Lacrosse, Lacrosse 4 (00-047A) was recorded in the images when it passed through the same area at about 19:46 UTC).
As it now transpires, probably the last person to see Lacrosse 2 alive was Pierre Neirinck in France at March 25th, 20:19 UTC. Another observer failed to see it on March 26th: quite likely, it was de-orbited only a few hours and orbits after Pierre's observation.
Launched on March 8th, 1991, Lacrosse 2 has been operational for almost exactly 20 years: a long period of active service indeed.
Below are a number of archive images of Lacrosse 2 taken by me in 2008 and 2010. Goodbye, Lacrosse 2, you always were such a nice bright satellite to track.....
click images to enlarge
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl6d0M_LqmQj83niIhufkyctnMQyRuyOBJlBu3gMFRIUbdbdVEgzunTBewgKFMtkqwJ_Vt9yn_XXzEtfYfNGQes8RBYUgz_yquBIX35iAk8lSgJhx2S3p8HWtLGVstPTkw8pGDsA/s400/120808Lac2.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg7LOs54eLCJ2rM3CH6Tzzfa-GMP8fbG7fvPh4msJRsXFU66A4ptrdu-UGX67kC0S1DJwvsEozEjvqsNae8waMPVIu3F76hJBSdsTXU-_F-qppFVdAB1Mtym_gVjK8V2ctxioogg/s400/050708lac2.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWm9QN3GWUHA_vrtjIADfsD3kN5HBL_jmZwoQTlPoAC268W_VgrilKIAGTXrJh9u_ss51QQPiyVnmWTnInhyphenhyphenL1CjjTJQA5w1HcbPq78-bz-igOHFKhN1gVybHC47ehFHbjlItwqA/s400/010110Lac2.jpg)
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