NOSS 3-4 obs of 2007 Jul 16 UTC from K. Fetter video

From: Ted Molczan (sslmolcz@rogers.com)
Date: Mon Jul 16 2007 - 13:56:38 EDT

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    I waited in vain for NOSS 3-4 this morning, only to be clouded out, so it was a
    pleasant surprise to learn that Kevin Fetter obtained videos of both payloads,
    available here:
    
    http://www.kfetter.com/satvideo/other/
    
    I have reduced the following data from selected video frames:
    
    31701 07 027A   1775 G 20070716074443890 36 25 0336739+231673 37 S
    31701 07 027A   1775 G 20070716074455134 36 25 0344871+241026 37 S
    31701 07 027A   1775 G 20070716074456636 36 25 0345829+241716 37 S
    31701 07 027A   1775 G 20070716074458471 36 25 0347225+242520 37 S
    31701 07 027A   1775 G 20070716074503276 36 25 0350537+244621 37 S
    31701 07 027A   1775 G 20070716074508581 36 25 0354317+250859 37 S
    31708 07 027C   1775 G 20070716074656089 36 25 0332931+233153 37 S
    31708 07 027C   1775 G 20070716074700059 36 25 0335893+235217 37 S
    31708 07 027C   1775 G 20070716074709268 36 25 0342607+243612 37 S
    31708 07 027C   1775 G 20070716074714807 36 25 0346695+250133 37 S
    31708 07 027C   1775 G 20070716074718511 36 25 0349410+251737 37 S
    31708 07 027C   1775 G 20070716074721781 36 25 0351695+253137 37 S
    31708 07 027C   1775 G 20070716074724317 36 25 0353511+254302 17 S
    
    Here are updated elements:
    
    NOSS 3-4 (A)     0.0  0.0  0.0  4.9 v                   841 X 1188 km
    1 31701U 07027A   07197.31176903  .00000020  00000-0  20000-4 0    03
    2 31701  63.4078 324.6212 0235157 149.4191 212.0801 13.65512220    05
    Arc 2007 Jul 12.36 - 16.32, WRMS residuals = 0.008 deg
    
    NOSS 3-4 (C)     0.0  0.0  0.0  4.9 v                   839 X 1193 km
    1 31708U 07027C   07197.31333675  .00000020  00000-0  20000-4 0    01
    2 31708  63.4495 324.6727 0239715 149.4359 212.0901 13.65063435    06
    Arc 2007 Jul 14.34 - 16.32, WRMS residuals = 0.009 deg
    
    These elements are based on short arcs, so they are likely to vary a bit as the
    observational arc grows.
    
    Manoeuvres to-date:
    
    1. Within about one day of 2007 Jun 24 UTC, 07027A and C raised their mean
    altitude by 0.63 km and 0.38 km, respectively, resulting in station-keeping,
    with C trailing A by about 35 s.
    
    2. On July 12, near 17:00 UTC, 07027C raised its mean altitude by 1.6 km.
    
    Both objects remain more than 89 km below their nominal operational mean orbital
    altitude, of about 1106 km (initial orbit typically is elliptical, about 1006 x
    1206 km). Argument of perigee remains about 30 deg lower than nominal,
    inclination is close to nominal.
    
    The Centaur stage has yet to be found; here are a couple of search elements I
    concocted soon after launch, based on Babak A. Tafreshi's photos of the
    propellant dump. These might be useful as the basis for a planar search, or not.
    
    NOSS 3-4 r       0.0  0.0  0.0  5.0 v
    1 70000U          07166.77466843  .00000023  00000-0  20000-4 0    06
    2 70000  63.9209  45.0824 0286563 148.8656 212.9725 13.68680000    09
    
    1 31702U 07027B   07166.77441821  .00000024  00000-0  20000-4 0    08
    2 31702  63.5600  45.3807 0299881 161.5762 199.6425 13.68630000    00
    
    Ted Molczan
    
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