Decay watch: Nov 24

Alan Pickup (alan@wingar.demon.co.uk)
Wed, 24 Nov 1999 19:49:07 +0000

After the recent shuffling of identities has abated, SpaceCom has issued
a new decay warning for #25957 = 99- 61 B repeating the identification
of this object as Shenzhou's Long March rocket. SpaceCom predicts its
decay for Nov 27 04:58 UTC +-2d. My own SatEvo analysis gives a
prediction for  Nov 27 10:24 +-16h. You can find more details, including
predicted elsets, on my Decay Watch page at 
      http://www.wingar.demon.co.uk/satevo/dkwatch/

The ID of the B object as the rocket supports my conclusion that the
only other remaining Shenzhou object (#25960 = 99- 61 E) is the Orbital
Module that was detached from Shenzhou and left behind in orbit. The
latter object may decay about November 30 by my current estimate. Its
latest elset is
SZ-1 Orb Mod?    3.0  3.0  0.0  5.0 d   10       297 x 196 km
1 25960U 99061E   99328.65097678  .01240082  84167-5  77826-3 0   123
2 25960  42.6012 357.2573 0076611 163.9192 196.4113 16.10101802   570


Alan
-- 
 Alan Pickup | COSPAR 2707:  55d53m48.7s N  3d11m51.2s W   156m asl
 Edinburgh   | Tel: +44 (0)131 477 9144     Fax: +44 (0)870 0520750
 Scotland    | SatEvo page:   http://www.wingar.demon.co.uk/satevo/

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