Kevin Fetter wrote: > On Mar 1 a Volna rocket will launch a satellite called cosmos > 1 into a approx 825 km high 78 degree inclination orbit. > > http://www.planetary.org/solarsail/ > > This should make for a nice satellite. Indeed, and the web site provides sufficient information to estimate the approximate orbital elements. Based upon the countdown clock on the above web page, I estimate launch on 2005 Mar 01 at 04:56:10 UTC. The following page provides fairly detailed information on the planned orbit, and the time of orbit insertion, 1168 s (19m28s) after launch: http://www.planetary.org/solarsail/images/Sail_Pics/2nd%20phase%20demo.jpg The timeline provides an approximate time and location along the orbital ground track: http://www.planetary.org/solarsail/timeline.html "[one of two] portable [tracking] stations will be located on the island of Majuro, in the Marshall Islands of the central Pacific. Majuro is the first land point in the spacecraft's orbital path, and it will be passing over the island 4 minutes after orbit insertion. The Majuro station should be able to track the spacecraft for around 10 minutes." So the pass over Majuro should occur about 23m28s after launch. Based upon the location of the launch site, and description of the ground track, the pass over Majuro will be southbound. The following elements place the satellite directly over Majuro (7.1 N, 171.383 E) at about 05:19:38 UTC: 832 X 840 km 1 70900U 70900A 05060.22196759 .00000000 00000-0 00000-0 0 07 2 70900 78.6000 231.8000 0005500 0.0000 172.6800 14.16100000 00 This orbit is consistent with the planned subsequent acquisition by one of the permanent tracking stations, Panska Ves in the Czech Republic (50.533 N, 14.550 E), about 1h14m after orbital insertion. This orbit results in pre-dawn passes over much of the inhabited Earth. Russell Eberst will have a high elevation pass near the end of civil twilight. The real orbit is bound to be somewhat different, but this should be suitable for rough observation planning purposes. It occurs to me that hobbyist visual tracking might of some use in the first hours after launch. Perhaps someone should contact the project managers and ask whether we might of assistance. All we would require are accurate pre-flight elements, and information on the dimensions of the spacecraft in the various expected stages of deployment (my guess is that it is small without the sail). Then, we could determine whether or not any of our sensors would be able and willing to get up early and have a look. Ted Molczan ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe/Unsubscribe info, Frequently Asked Questions, SeeSat-L archive: http://www.satobs.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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