On 2006 Mar 04 UTC, Russell Eberst observed USA 161 (01044A / 26934) running considerably early: http://satobs.org/seesat/Mar-2006/0054.html relative its last known orbit: USA 161 15.0 4.0 0.0 5.2 v 403 X 966 km 1 26934U 01044A 06010.86341370 .00001200 00000-0 68132-4 0 02 2 26934 97.9180 120.2251 0343693 94.7482 265.2517 14.74446208 03 Compensating for Earth's rotation in the interim between prediction and observation, revealed a large change in the predicted path, suggesting that the eccentricity had been changed considerably. The ideal time for such major orbital surgery occurred on or about Feb 09 UTC, when the object's perigee was near the equator. I concocted the following search orbits for that date: 316 X 988 km 1 70000U 06040.65467307 .00005201 00000-0 12000-3 0 02 2 70000 97.9180 149.4085 0478000 358.8090 1.2264 14.72020000 07 286 X 990 km 1 70000U 06040.65467306 .00008048 00000-0 12000-3 0 03 2 70000 97.9180 149.4085 0502000 358.8090 1.2264 14.76258500 07 Both fairly accurately predict Russell's observation, so they should be reasonably useful for searching. I suggest allowing at least 5 min for prediction time uncertainty. Ted Molczan ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe/Unsubscribe info, Frequently Asked Questions, SeeSat-L archive: http://www.satobs.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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