On 6/12/07, JAY RESPLER <jrespler@superlink.net> wrote: > Catalog # 31404. > Either something just broke off Vanguard 3, or this object has been around > since launch and has to be one of the oldest items in orbit ever identified. > > -- > Jay Respler This is the second small object recently discovered in orbit with Vanguard 3. I suspect that the third stage, which was an ABL X-248 (first and only one to be used with a Vanguard launch vehicle) and made of glass-reinforced plastic, remaining attached to the paylaod, might be slowly coming apart after 48 years in orbit. I reread the NASA account of the launch, which includes drawings of the payload and a photo of the third stage, and was unable to find any suggestion of small hardware that might have been discarded at the time of orbital insertion. The payload was designed to remain joined to the third stage in orbit as a unit. Barring better information to the contrary, I'll be listing objects 29005 and 31405 (not 31404) as Vanguard 3 X-248 third-stage fragments. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe/Unsubscribe info, Frequently Asked Questions, SeeSat-L archive: http://www.satobs.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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