TJM obs of 2004 Mar 26 UTC; USA 129 elements

From: Ted Molczan (molczan@rogers.com)
Date: Fri Mar 26 2004 - 12:29:26 EST

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    The result of my earlier orbital analysis suggested that latest manoeuvre had
    occurred at apogee, but adding David Brierley's observations leads to the
    opposite conclusion.
    
    Here is my revised elset:
    
    Observation arc 2004 Mar 23.81 - 26.12 UTC:
    
    USA 129         15.0  3.0  0.0  5.3 v
    1 24680U 96072A   04086.11303315  .00022039  00000-0  30897-3 0    08
    2 24680  98.0035 147.5078 0531081 162.3560 199.6908 14.71317826    02
    
    WRMS residuals = 0.016 deg
    
    This elset strongly suggests that the manoeuvre occurred on 2004 Mar 23 at about
    15:05 UTC, near perigee, over 9.8 N, 81.2 W. The apogee was raised about 8 km,
    and apparently the inclination was increased by about 0.05 deg.
    
    Also, my observation last night now appears to be considerably more accurate
    than it looked earlier, but apparently still too early, by up to 0.2 s.
    
    The elements are likely to flop around a bit more as the arc grows, but
    hopefully I will not be forced to flip flop again on the circumstances of the
    manoeuvre.
    
    Ted Molczan
    
    
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