Re: New bright satellite

From: Dr. T.S. Kelso via Seesat-l <seesat-l_at_satobs.org>
Date: Tue, 25 Jul 2017 23:31:26 +0000
Leo,

I have been working with Planet and JSpOC/18SPCS and JSpOC released OBJECT CA TLE earlier today. We have confirmed it is FLOCK 2K-06. We still don’t have any data for the rocket body.  - TS

Dr. T.S. Kelso
CelesTrak, https://celestrak.com
E-Mail: ts.kelso_at_celestrak.com<mailto:ts.kelso_at_celestrak.com>

On 2017 Jul 25, at 04:00, Leo Barhorst via Seesat-l <seesat-l_at_satobs.org<mailto:seesat-l_at_satobs.org>> wrote:

So we will have to wait another 2-3 weeks and could see an occasional flash
in the meantime.

In the S&T article they say Mayak is 2017 042F 42830, but this has not
shown up on Space-Track
as have severeal of the other payloads.
Also missing is object CA and the Fregat upperstage object CB. The latter
was deorbited after
releasing the payloads some 5-6 hours in the flight and decayed over the
Indian Ocean.

Leo

2017-07-25 12:36 GMT+02:00 Marco Langbroek <marco_at_langbroek.org<mailto:marco_at_langbroek.org>>:

Op 25-7-2017 om 10:56 schreef Leo Barhorst:
On Jul 11 I wrote:
The sat wil rotate in all 3 directions and by reflecting the sunlight it
could
reach
mag -10, much brighetr than ISS (mag -4) or the Iridium-1's (mag -8).

See the article on Spaceflight101.com<http://Spaceflight101.com> with 2 video's and photo's.


This is unlike the Iridiums-1 that had a stable orientation and reflect
the
sunlight from the antennae panels in a small path over the earth.

As MAYAK would be rotating in all 3 directions I think the reflections
will
spread out over the earthsurface and one must be lucky to see them.

The video on Spaceflight101.com<http://Spaceflight101.com> suggest otherwise. But only real
observations
could clarify that.



I have seen another source (that I can't find this fast) mentioning that
Mayak
would actually be 3-axis stabilized for the first 3 or 4 weeks after
launch,
i.e. like an Iridium. After this, they will let it tumble (but it will
decay fast).

It is a pitty that the people behind Mayak aren't more forthcoming with
information about their spacecraft operations, certainly giving the media
hype
they created about "the brightest object in the sky". Their website gives
very
little useful information about the operational phase of the satellite.

- Marco

PS: ah, found a source (not the one I had seen earlier) mentioning the 4
week
stable orientation mode:
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/bright-
moon-new-satellite-mayak-light-sky/


-----
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
-----

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Received on Tue Jul 25 2017 - 18:32:07 UTC

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