Re: Cosmos 2326 decay update

Alan Pickup (alan@wingar.demon.co.uk)
Fri, 7 Nov 1997 07:52:49 +0000

Further elsets from OIG do not support my claim that there was a 20%+
increase in drag on the morning of the 6th. Rather, it seems, I may have
been misled by a rogue elset (at 97310.53) which I cannot get to "fit"
with my evolutions through its neighbours.

The latest elset from OIG is
Cosmos 2326      6.0  0.0  0.0  4.2 v            225 x 171 km
1 23748U 95071A   97311.08507123  .03619616  73587-5  74008-3 0  3367
2 23748  65.0006 322.8037 0041354 265.9618  93.6832 16.28062199106914
which is 17 seconds late with respect to my "9327" evolution.

My latest ("9331") evolution, below, ignores the 97310.53 elset and
leads to decay around November 8.2. The expected geomagnetic storm
arrived about midnight, however, so Cosmos 2326 could well begin to run
early against this prediction and its decay could yet occur on the 7th.

Predictions:
Cosmos 2326      6.0  0.0  0.0  4.2 v            206 x 165 km
1 23748U 95071A   97311.51447904  .06313331  23899-1  90734-3 0 93318
2 23748  64.9985 321.1704 0030908 267.0405  92.6058 16.32628092106982
Cosmos 2326      6.0  0.0  0.0  4.2 v            192 x 159 km
1 23748U 95071A   97311.75925644  .08927679  52777-1  91081-3 0 93317
2 23748  64.9973 320.2360 0025106 266.9224  92.7903 16.36276198107024
Cosmos 2326      6.0  0.0  0.0  4.2 v            172 x 149 km
1 23748U 95071A   97312.00336095  .16082551  17339+0  62143-3 0 93312
2 23748  64.9955 319.2981 0017501 266.8040  92.9957 16.42042164107062
Cosmos 2326      6.0  0.0  0.0  4.2 v            140 x 130 km
1 23748U 95071A   97312.18565802  .53150783  33352+1  44613-3 0 93311
2 23748  64.9922 318.5906 0008016 266.7148  93.1935 16.51750003107094

Alan
-- 
 Alan Pickup | COSPAR site 2707:   55d53m48.7s N   3d11m51.2s W    156m asl
 Edinburgh   | Home:      alan@wingar.demon.co.uk       +44 (0)131 477 9144
 Scotland    | SatEvo satellite page: http://www.wingar.demon.co.uk/satevo/