Rendezvous Programs?

JWHoltz@aol.com
Mon, 3 Feb 1997 22:37:20 -0500 (EST)

Does anyone have or know of a program that will determine (or approximate)
the orbit required for a rendezvous? In particular, I'm thinking about the
upcoming rendezvous between the space shuttle and the Hubble Space Telescope.
(Shuttle/Mir rendezvous are also of interest).

My thinking is that the launch date/time is usually known, and the time of
rendezvous is known (sometimes from news reports) or can be guessed. Based on
this info, can an orbit be determined with enough accuracy (plus or minus 10
minutes) to watch for the shuttle?

An added benefit of such a program would be to plan and correct for launch
delays. (It seems that they usually happen, and pre-launch elements/vectors
are usually only for the nominal launch time. Correct?)

John Holtz
JWHoltz@aol.com
Pittsburgh PA
40d 37' 33.6" N   79d 48' 45.3" W  1330 ft elev