Ed Cannon and Paul Gabriel and reported that USA 129 did not show up last night. Paul was observing under good conditions, such that the object should have been about magnitude 4.6, so it is quite possible that the major re-boost manoeuvres had already taken place, sometime after the last sighting, when the object was in the following orbit: USA 129 15.0 3.0 0.0 5.1 v 1 24680U 96072A 01187.14410790 .00030059 00000-0 38985-3 0 03 2 24680 97.8231 248.9330 0479823 167.5134 193.8435 14.83663532 05 Searchers should first look for the object in the above orbit, just in case it has not manoeuvred. In case it has manoeuvred, I have prepared and appended eleven search orbits. They are identified only by their pseudo-NORAD numbers, which range from 79001 through 79011. Set 79001 is based on a re-boost at the first perigee after the last known sighting. This elset will provide the latest possible time and track that the object could follow. The next nine search elements follow at intervals of three revolutions, which should provide adequate spacing for searchers. Set 79011 follows set 79010 by two revolutions. It represents a re-boost at the perigee immediately prior to Ed and Paul's non-sightings. The concept of the search is to plot the various search paths to provide a guide as to the approximate time and track that the object could follow. If anyone in Europe or further east has the opportunity to observe, then prompt reports via SeeSat-L would be helpful to those of us in North America and further west. Even a simple confirmation that the object is no longer in the above orbit would be helpful. If you prefer confidentiality, you may e-mail me directly at molczan@home.com Ted Molczan 1 79001U 01187.17523148 .00020000 00000-0 27201-3 0 05 2 79001 97.8231 248.9636 0521200 167.4113 0.0000 14.74000000 06 1 79002U 01187.37744213 .00020000 00000-0 27201-3 0 06 2 79002 97.8231 249.1627 0521200 166.7475 0.0000 14.74000000 03 1 79003U 01187.57962963 .00020000 00000-0 27201-3 0 03 2 79003 97.8231 249.3617 0521200 166.0837 0.0000 14.74000000 00 1 79004U 01187.78182870 .00020000 00000-0 27201-3 0 08 2 79004 97.8231 249.5607 0521200 165.4199 0.0000 14.74000000 06 1 79005U 01187.98402778 .00020000 00000-0 27201-3 0 03 2 79005 97.8231 249.7597 0521200 164.7561 0.0000 14.74000000 02 1 79006U 01188.18621528 .00020000 00000-0 27201-3 0 03 2 79006 97.8231 249.9587 0521200 164.0924 0.0000 14.74000000 00 1 79007U 01188.38841435 .00020000 00000-0 27201-3 0 07 2 79007 97.8231 250.1578 0521200 163.4286 0.0000 14.74000000 09 1 79008U 01188.59060185 .00020000 00000-0 27201-3 0 06 2 79008 97.8231 250.3568 0521200 162.7648 0.0000 14.74000000 05 1 79009U 01188.79280093 .00020000 00000-0 27201-3 0 01 2 79009 97.8231 250.5558 0521200 162.1010 0.0000 14.74000000 04 1 79010U 01188.99497685 .00020000 00000-0 27201-3 0 02 2 79010 97.8231 250.7549 0521200 161.4373 0.0000 14.74000000 02 1 79011U 01189.12978009 .00020000 00000-0 27201-3 0 03 2 79011 97.8231 250.8876 0521200 160.9948 0.0000 14.74000000 09 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe from SeeSat-L by sending a message with 'unsubscribe' in the SUBJECT to SeeSat-L-request@lists.satellite.eu.org http://www2.satellite.eu.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Sun Jul 08 2001 - 10:12:26 PDT