I have revised the elements and related information, in reasonable conformance with information found in the press-kit issued by Eads: http://www.astrium.eads.net/press-center/launch-kits/2008/vol-181-ariane-5-es-at v-2013-charge-utile-atv-automated-transfer-vehicle The launch timeline is on pp. 31-32. AOS/LOS/Culmination circumstances for the first two passes of Les Mureaux, are on pg. 15. I had some difficulty with that information, until I discovered a typo in the longitude provided for Les Mureaux; it should be 01°54'32" E, not 04°54'32" E. The ground track maps also are useful. The following elements are based on launch on 2008 Mar 09, at 04:03:04 UTC. I estimate prediction time accuracy is within about 15 s, for the first three hours after launch. Track errors of a couple of degrees may occur on high elevation passes. The initial orbit is valid from approximately 04:20 to 05:05 UTC: ATV/ESC 14.5 5.0 0.0 3.0 v 144 X 257 km 1 71700U 08069.18379630 .00000000 00000-0 00000-0 0 08 2 71700 51.6400 172.9000 0086000 57.5000 14.4000 16.27300000 01 While in the initial orbit, ATV will remain attached to the Ariane 5's ESC upper stage, resulting in a stack about 14.5 m long, and mean diameter of about 5 m. Estimated standard visual magnitude is about 3 (1000 km range, 90 deg phase-angle). The circularized orbit is valid beginning shortly after about 05:05:30 UTC: ATV 1 9.8 4.5 0.0 3.5 v 256 X 269 km 1 71700U 08069.21499537 .00000000 00000-0 00000-0 0 01 2 71700 51.6400 172.7000 0010000 252.0000 2.6000 16.04440000 07 The 4.7 m x 5.4 m upper stage will be in a similar orbit, until its de-orbit burn, at 06:27:31 UTC, just west of Australia. Visibility from Europe On its first pass over Europe, the ATV/ESC stack is predicted to exit eclipse at 04:26:30 UTC, about 153 km above 50.7 N, 12.7 E, as it approaches Eastern Europe. One rev later, at about 5:57 UTC, ATV and its ESC stage (now separated) will pass over the U.K., at about 51.5 N latitude, at an altitude of about 275 km. This will be near the start of civil twilight. Ted Molczan ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe/Unsubscribe info, Frequently Asked Questions, SeeSat-L archive: http://www.satobs.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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