Hi all, The sightings of the Falcon 9 upper stage from the Zuma launch venting fuel over East Africa some 2h 15m after launch, suggests that Zuma might be in a higher orbit than in my pre-launch estimate. Rather than ~400 km it might be ~900-1000 km. These are two *very preliminary* new elset estimates. I will see whether further analysis of the images might lead me to further revise the orbit estimate. Zuma 895 x 905 km 1 70000U 18999A 18008.04166667 .00000000 00000-0 00000-0 0 09 2 70000 050.0006 016.6385 0006870 048.9951 328.2490 13.98210309 00 Zuma 995 x 1005 km 1 70001U 18999A 18008.04166667 .00000000 00000-0 00000-0 0 00 2 70001 050.0003 016.6517 0006777 048.9870 328.8923 13.69880760 00 If correct, this means Zuma might become observable in the N hemisphere about a week from now. I advise to target both the previous 400 km and 900-1000 km orbit estimates. At least, we have a reasonable idea of the orbital plane the spacecraft is in. Allow for spacious time around the nominal pass times, and spacious cross-track error. - Marco ----- Dr Marco Langbroek - SatTrackCam Leiden, the Netherlands. e-mail: sattrackcam_at_langbroek.org Cospar 4353 (Leiden): 52.15412 N, 4.49081 E (WGS84), +0 m ASL Cospar 4355 (Cronesteyn): 52.13878 N, 4.49937 E (WGS84), -2 m ASL Station (b)log: http://sattrackcam.blogspot.com Twitter: _at_Marco_Langbroek ----- _______________________________________________ Seesat-l mailing list http://mailman.satobs.org/mailman/listinfo/seesat-lReceived on Mon Jan 08 2018 - 18:03:13 UTC
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