Re: operational vs tumbling molniya

From: Ed Cannon (edcannonsat@yahoo.com)
Date: Fri Mar 17 2006 - 22:55:41 EST

  • Next message: Steve Newcomb: "8539 obs March 17"

    yK Chia wrote:
    
    "Is there a updated list of Molniya that tumbled ( out of control ) 
    vs still operational?  What is the criteria for a seeing 
    'higher-chance' of flashing from  these two groups?  phase angle ~ 
    90 degree, closest range?  For the operational ones are they spin 
    stabilized throughout the entire orbit (at perigee)?"
    
    I list below what I could find about flashing Molniyas and others 
    in similar orbits.  I don't really know if there are consistent
    criteria for seeing them flashing.  Some have been observed 
    flashing quite brightly from pretty far away.  Here is a very 
    nice and detailed page about an official Canadian project that 
    was dedicated to tracking them (most of it available in both 
    English and French; don't miss the image gallery, including five 
    identified as tumbling):
    
    http://www.rmc.ca/academic/physics/castor/tracking97_e.html
    
    From what I've been told by Mike, I think that all Molniyas and 
    Okos that are more than a few years old can be considered 
    candidates for tumbling.  Searching various sources, I could 
    find reports of flashing or at least variation for the following 
    Molniyas (some of which may have re-entered):
    
    07276, 74-026A, Molniya 2-9
    08015, 75-063A, Molniya 2-13
    08425, 75-105A, Molniya 3-3
    09880, 77-021A, Molniya 1-3
    11057, 78-095A, Molniya 3-10
    11240, 79-004A, Molniya 3-11
    11474, 79-070A, Molniya 1-44 (four minutes in the report I found)
    12156, 81-009A, Molniya 1-49
    12133, 81-002A, Molniya 3-14
    13012, 81-123A, Molniya 1-52
    13070, 82-015A, Molniya 1-53
    15214, 84-089A, Molniya 1-62
    14313, 83-090A, Molniya 3-21
    15738, 85-040A, Molniya 3-24 (flashing?; named in PPAS notes)
    15909, 85-061A, Molniya 3-25
    15977, 85-074A, Molniya 1-64
    16393, 85-117A, Molniya 3-27
    17264, 86-103A, Molniya 1-70
    19713, 88-112A, Molniya 3-34
    20338, 89-094A, Molniya 3-36 (slow)
    20255, 89-078A, Molniya 1-76
    20646, 90-052A, Molniya 3-38
    20813, 98-084A, Molniya 3-39
    21118, 91-012A, Molniya 1-80
    21426, 91-043A, Molniya 1-81
    22178, 92-067A, Molniya 3-42
    22255, 92-085A, Molniya 3-43
    23420, 94-081A, Molniya 1-88
    24640, 96-060A, Molniya 3-48 (over 80 seconds)
    
    Here's more information about Molniyas:
    http://www.astronautix.com/project/molniya.htm
    http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/molniya-2.htm
    http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/molniya-3.htm
    
    Here are the Russian Oko early warning satellies that I
    know of that have been observed flashing:
    
    09911, 77-027A, Cosmos 903
    11015, 78-083A, Cosmos 1030 
    13080, 82-016A, Cosmos 1341
    13124, 82-029A, Cosmos 1348
    14587, 83-126A, Cosmos 1518 
    16993, 86-075A, Cosmos 1783 (slow)
    22189, 92-069A, Cosmos 2217 (many reports)
    
    Here's information about Okos:
    http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/oko.htm
    http://www.astronautix.com/craft/oko.htm
    
    Here's a general site about Russian military spacecraft:
    http://www.russianspaceweb.com/spacecraft_military.html
    
    And finally, some (but not all) of the following unknown or 
    classified objects in eccentric orbits are flashing:
    
    26053, 00-001B, USA 148 Rk (I think this one is lost.)
    28385, 04-034B, USA 179 Cn r (tumbling)
    90004, 99-750A, Unknown 990907 (definitely flashes - at times)
    90006, 00-596A, Unknown 000405 (definitely flashes - at times)
    90020, 04-539A, Unknown 040208
    90025, 04-800A, Unknown 041026
    90026, 04-809A, Unknown 041104
    90027, 04-841A, Unknown 041206
    90028, 04-846A, Unknown 041211
    90032, 05-577A, Unknown 050318
    90039, 05-689A, Unknown 050708
    90040, 05-683A, Unknown 050702 (tumbling slowly)
    90044, 05-859A, Unknown 051225
    90045, 05-862B, Unknown 051228
    90046, 05-864A, Unknown 051230
    90047, 06-521A, Unknown 060121
    
    Ed Cannon - Austin, Texas, USA
    
    
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