Decay watch: July 25
Alan Pickup (alan@wingar.demon.co.uk)
Sun, 25 Jul 1999 20:05:48 +0100
My Decay Watch page at
http://www.wingar.demon.co.uk/satevo/dkwatch/
has been updated with the final notice for #25780, the Iridium 14A Smart
Dispenser and a first notice for #25870, one of the two Mir debris
objects I mentioned yesterday.
#25780 ran only slightly late against my prediction of yesterday, when I
had predicted re-entry at about 09:17 UTC over the S Atlantic on a
northbound pass. In good agreement with Harro Zimmer and SpaceCom, I now
place re-entry a little later while it was northbound over the Canary Is
at about 09:35 UTC. There is still a chance that it decayed earlier and
further S, or that it survived to re-enter southbound over the Pacific.
I am a little surprised to see a decay notice for #25870, Mir debris NG.
SpaceCom has not reported its RCS (Radar Cross Section) but, presumably,
it is small and difficult to observe. SpaceCom predict its decay for
July 28 at 15:35 UTC (+-2d), while SatEvo gives me July 29 at 04:24 UTC
(+-1d).
Alan
--
Alan Pickup | COSPAR 2707: 55d53m48.7s N 3d11m51.2s W 156m asl
Edinburgh | Tel: +44 (0)131 477 9144 Fax: +44 (0)870 0520750
Scotland | SatEvo page: http://www.wingar.demon.co.uk/satevo/