The 66 operating Iridia fly in 6 planes with 11 objects per plane. The
current status of the constellation is:
<pre>
Structural Diagram of the Iridial Constellation
P00 64 P10 46* P20 32 P30 5 P40R 84 P50 39
P01 65 P11 47 P21 33 P31 6 P41 10* P51 80
P02 66 P12R 11* P22 57 P32 7 P42 54* P52 17
P03 67 P13 49 P23 58 P33 8 P43 12 P53 15
P04 68 P14 26 P24 59 P34 4 P44 13 P54 81
P05 74 P15R 3 P25 60 P35 37* P45R 83 P55 38
P06 72 P16 22 P26 55 P36 61 P46 16 P56 41
P07R 75 P17 23 P27 28 P37 19 P47 50* P57 43
P08 70 P18 76 P28 29 P38 34 P48 56 P58 18*
P09 62 P19 25 P29 30 P39 35* P49 52* P59 42
P0A 63 P1A 45 P2A 31 P3A 36 P4A 53* P5A 40
P0 C 73 P1 B 69 P3 B 51 P4 B 86 P5 B 77
P0 D 14* P1 D 20* P4 S 911 P5 C 82
P0 E 21* P1 S 24* P4 T 914 P5 S 920
P1 T 71 P4 V 9* P5 T 44
P2 S 27 <---------< P5 U 921 <------------<
P4 ?? 2 <----------------------------------------------<
* numbers have been confused for these objects and also the "9nn"
objects. Be sure to use the unambiguous P-number.
</pre>
Objects in each plane are numbered 0 thru 9 and A. The objects follow
one another as shown. E.g., P01 follows P00 and P20 follows P2A.
Planes are numbered 0 thru 5. Planes follow one another as shown.
E.g., P1 follows P0 and P0 follows P5.
From moderate and equatorial latitudes, for planes from P0 to P5,
objects in one plane skim along the Western horizon as objects in the
next higher numbered plane go overhead in the same direction as objects
in the _next_ higher numbered plane skim in that direction along the
Eastern horizon. In polar regions, the sky is continually littered with
Iridia. From P0 to P5, object Ppo follows object P(p-1)(o-1). E.g., if
P22 is low in the West moving Southward, P33 is rising in the North.
The angle between P5 and P0 is much smaller than the other inter-planar
angles.
Object numbers followed by R occupy the designated place in the
constellation, having replaced craft formerly in that place. When the
suffix is S, T, U, V, etc., the object has failed and is tumbling. When
the suffix is B, C, D, E, etc., the object is possibly on standby,
available to replace any craft which might fail.
Careful attention to the vertical alignment shows which of the 19
objects outside of the operating array have moved "out of plane", in
some cases, far out of plane.
Cheers.
Walter Nissen wnissen@tfn.net
-81.8637, 41.3735, 256m elevation
---
"If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people together to collect
wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long
for the endless immensity of the sea." -- Antoine de Saint Exupery
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Sat May 05 2001 - 08:58:10 PDT