I have scrapped my epoch 03365.48661053 elset of 03054A, with mean motion 13.40602325 rev/d, reported here: http://satobs.org/seesat/Dec-2003/0390.html Subsequent observations were late relative that elset. Adding 1 s to Tony Beresford's observation of 2003 Dec 31 at 12:47 UTC corrects the problem. The following elements reveal that as of early Jan 01 UTC, 03054C's ascending node trailed 03054A's by 9.5 s, closing at the rate of about 0.16 s/rev. I suspect that when they are 6 to 8 s apart, one or both will manoeuvre to match mean motions, stabilizing their separation. That would put the earliest manoeuvre time at about Jan 01.708 UTC, and the latest about Jan 02.641 UTC. I still believe that their planned mean motion is about 13.4044 rev/d, but they may remain near 13.4060 rev/d for some time, until they arrive at some optimal phasing relative the other operational NOSS groups. Observation arc 2003 Dec 31.07 - 2004 Jan 01.04 UTC: NOSS 3-2 (A) 0.0 0.0 0.0 4.9 v 1 28095U 03054A 04001.00878722 .00000058 00000-0 10000-3 0 05 2 28095 63.4304 228.3433 0124883 178.7232 181.4135 13.40568347 01 WRMS residuals = 0.018 deg Observation arc 2003 Dec 17.70 - 2004 Jan 01.04 UTC: NOSS 3-2 r 10.1 3.0 0.0 3.7 v 1 28096U 03054B 04001.00496532 .00000013 00000-0 21565-4 0 01 2 28096 63.6762 228.5483 0140446 181.9945 178.0539 13.40531941 09 WRMS residuals = 0.015 deg Observation arc 2003 Dec 17.78 - 2004 Jan 01.04 UTC: NOSS 3-2 (C) 0.0 0.0 0.0 4.9 v 1 28097U 03054C 04001.00889688 .00000007 00000-0 11814-4 0 09 2 28097 63.4368 228.5248 0127354 180.2773 179.8202 13.40600996 06 WRMS residuals = 0.021 deg Ted Molczan ----------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe from SeeSat-L, send a message with 'unsubscribe' in the SUBJECT to SeeSat-L-request@satobs.org List archived at http://www.satobs.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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