STS-88 Predicted Post-separation burn TLE

CmdrJaycee@aol.com
Sat, 12 Dec 1998 16:42:37 EST

NASA has posted the following predicted post-separation burn element set for
STS-88 (from their web page:
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov./realdata/elements/index.html  ):

STS-88  
1 25549U 98069A   98347.90427233  .00088917  00000-0  14277-3 0  9210
2 25549  51.5950  48.6888 0009919 253.7217 106.2846 15.58056628  1519

This, obviously, presumes an on-time, nominal burn at 4:29PM EST (21:29 GNT),
Sunday.  I also noticed from their TV schedule --
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov./realdata/nasatv/schedule.html --  there is only
one such burn prior to de-orbit, however there will be an RCS hot fire on
Monday.  I have no idea if or how that will impact any predicted viewing
opportunity times, but I would hope not much.

By the way, I hope some of you got to see the Mars Climate Observer launch
footage.  All I can say is "WOW."  For those who may have missed it, they had
a camera mounted to the exterior of the first stage and showed it from that
vantage point, just after lift off, all the way through the booster jetison
and second stage separation some hundred-plus miles up, clear and smooth the
whole way.  Amazing.

Jim Cook
Germantown, MD 39.2N, 77.3W