Decay watch: Proton r & platform

Alan Pickup (alan@wingar.demon.co.uk)
Sun, 30 Aug 1998 20:19:52 +0100

Today's launch of Astra 2A has left two decaying object in LEO; its
Proton rocket and a platform.

My initial analysis of elsets for the Proton rocket suggests that it
will decay at about September 1.3 (~07:00 UTC +-8 hours). The orbit
brings it out of eclipse at about 47 deg N latitude in the morning sky
as it approaches northern apex. Worth a look for some of us.

The latest elset is:
Astra 2A Proton r                                212 x 160 km
1 25463U 98050B   98242.56520560  .02988672  12164-4  36873-3 0    98
2 25463  51.6065 352.0380 0039808 271.7596  87.8823 16.32523902    99

SatEvo predicted elsets:
Astra 2A Proton r                                207 x 158 km
1 25463U 98050B   98242.80994857  .02987438  54678-2  32953-3 0 90096
2 25463  51.6061 350.6671 0036901 272.7844  86.7932 16.33832442   137
Astra 2A Proton r                                200 x 156 km
1 25463U 98050B   98243.05448880  .03461226  75872-2  33185-3 0 90094
2 25463  51.6057 349.2945 0033747 273.8106  85.8034 16.35402953   177
Astra 2A Proton r                                193 x 153 km
1 25463U 98050B   98243.29877531  .04146910  11504-1  30125-3 0 90092
2 25463  51.6051 347.9200 0030270 274.8382  84.8162 16.37250166   210
Astra 2A Proton r                                184 x 150 km
1 25463U 98050B   98243.54275813  .05235609  19190-1  26334-3 0 90096
2 25463  51.6045 346.5432 0026344 275.8676  83.8320 16.39516333   251
Astra 2A Proton r                                174 x 145 km
1 25463U 98050B   98243.78635828  .07064621  35231-1  22190-3 0 90094
2 25463  51.6036 345.1634 0021726 276.8992  82.8536 16.42468010   295

       ---------------------------------------------

The associated platform has probably already decayed - I estimate at
about August 30.77 (~18:30 UTC +-1 hour). The latest elset is...

Astra 2A Proton plat                             175 x 153 km
1 25464U 98050C   98242.62633289  .25844343  12432-4  13721-2 0   106
2 25464  51.5886 351.6946 0016839 271.9641  88.2493 16.40836194   104

...and my prediction for the final elset:
Astra 2A Proton plat                             135 x 127 km
1 25464U 98050C   98242.74773364 1.28227369  24789+2  84816-3 0 90103
2 25464  51.5853 351.0021 0006211 272.4825  87.4464 16.53185907   123


-- 
 Alan Pickup | COSPAR site 2707:   55d53m48.7s N   3d11m51.2s W    156m asl
 Edinburgh   | Home:      alan@wingar.demon.co.uk       +44 (0)131 477 9144
 Scotland    | SatEvo satellite page: http://www.wingar.demon.co.uk/satevo/