Updated Lacrosse 3 and USA 144 elements

Ted Molczan (molczan@home.com)
Mon, 4 Oct 1999 11:51:07 -0400

Today is the 42nd anniversary of the launch of Sputnik 1. Happy anniversary
folks!

Pierre Neirinck produced these elements, using observations by himself, Tony
Beresford, David Brierley, Russell Eberst, Alberto Rango and Peter Wakelin,
from 22 Sep to 04 Oct UTC.

Lacrosse 3      18.0  4.5  0.0  3.6 v
1 25017U 97064  A 99277.26339170  .00000751  00000-0  13362-3 0  1528
2 25017  56.9949 323.8132 0012257  86.0672 274.0730 14.66740208    08

USA 144         15.0  4.0  0.0  3.4 v
1 25744U 99028  A 99277.30971020 -.00000025  00000-0 -38667-2 0   358
2 25744  63.4423 295.1035 0233353 291.6887  65.8426  9.69757386    02

Russell Eberst's precise magnitude estimates confirm USA 144's standard
magnitude of 3.4, which was based on a single early observation in June.

Russell's 16 magnitude-points between 23 Aug and 2 Oct UTC were scattered
within +/- 0.5 mag of prediction. On average, the observed points were about
0.056 mag fainter than predicted.

Ted Molczan