Re: SPOT 1 r BJ

Jim Varney (jamesv@softcom.net)
Mon, 9 Mar 1998 21:02:50 -0800

Jari wrote:

>Thanks to Tyler MacKenzie for identifying SPOT 1 r BJ as the unknown i saw
>last night. Looking at the tle's for various SPOT 1 objects, it appears
that
>the rocket for SPOT 1 came apart at some time. However with the later NORAD
>numbers it looks like pieces came off once again. Anyone know what happened
>to SPOT 1 r?

According to "History of On-Orbit Fragmentations" SPOT 1 r exploded into 489
catalogued objects on November 13, 1986, almost 8 months after launch.  I
don't know why the report shows the reason for the explosion as "unknown."
What reason can there be for a rocket body to blow up other than residual
propellant?
_____________________________________________________________
Jim Varney     121.398 W, 38.458 N, 8m     Sacramento, Calif.
Member, Sacramento Valley Astronomical Society