> smaller orbit than the ISS, and then attains a speed faster than rated > for that orbital plane, which makes it gain altitude and go faster than > the ISS. Thus, when the Shuttle comes up to ISS's orbital plane, the two ... One issue in Jonathan's mail was not addressed by Ron. When 'driving in the fast lane' STS must increase speed FURTHER to reach the ISS height. But in this elliptical transfer orbit, speed decreases with height, so it reaches ISS with a LOWER speed, and must accelerate once MORE to stay at the target height. Actually, this was NOT done in 1/2 orbit. In the low orbit (e.g. elset #7, orbit #17) MM was 0.33 higher than ISS', so STS was gaining on ISS by about 30 min/day, or 2 min/orbit. In elset #8, orbit 22 and #9, orbit 24, the MM is only 0.1 higher than ISS', gaining 9 min/day or 0.6 min/orbit. With these small MM differences, and the 4 min launch window, the times of orbit transitions (and the heights of the low orbits) must be choosen carefully to make a close encounter near the 374 km ISS perigee. The low orbit makes it possible to dock within two days, and in combination with the intermediate orbit allows fine-tuning of the docking. STS-100 392 x 374 1 26747U 01016A 01111.47436995 .00002971 00000-0 33689-4 0 101 2 26747 51.5717 14.4828 0013430 300.3685 59.5979 15.61579599 288 STS-100 376 x 331 1 26747U 01016A 01111.25118354 .00005260 11738-9 38153-4 0 95 2 26747 51.5671 15.6150 0033057 168.0950 9.9475 15.71902981 241 STS-100 376 x 331 1 26747U 01016A 01111.09262737 .00005256 11717-9 38109-4 0 84 2 26747 51.5696 16.4324 0033132 167.6160 192.5659 15.71905971 225 STS-100 332 x 248 1 26747U 01016A 01110.77610761 .00023889 23864-8 50073-4 0 72 2 26747 51.5683 18.0687 0063248 6.1685 354.0086 15.94451667 177 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe from SeeSat-L by sending a message with 'unsubscribe' in the SUBJECT to SeeSat-L-request@lists.satellite.eu.org http://www2.satellite.eu.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Sun Apr 22 2001 - 00:33:36 PDT