Titan 4 (and Lacrosse 3?) seen!

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Here is Bjorn Gimle's "parking orbit":

Lacrosse 3-57 02:32 UT 971024                    683 x 427
1 97147U 97099  A 97297.14991394  .00020200  00000-0  34292-4 0    18
2 97147  56.9990 156.1300 0184600 160.8266 199.9841 15.04000054    13

What I assume was the Titan 4 upper stage was seen to be tumbling
from magnitude 0 to about magnitude 3 with a period of about
45 seconds across my zenith at 00:57UT Oct 25.  This was about
2 minutes early compared to Bjorn's elset.

When I was checking reference stars in the east, a 3rd magnitude
object was seen about 40 seconds after the rocket.  I would assume
that this was the Lacrosse and that it is still in the parking
orbit.

I hope that someone on the West Coast will be able to look for them.

Mike McCants
mikem@fc.net
Austin, TX  30.33, 97.76 west

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