Decay watch: Oct 25
Alan Pickup (alan@wingar.demon.co.uk)
Mon, 25 Oct 1999 23:04:11 +0100
My Decay Watch page at
http://www.wingar.demon.co.uk/satevo/dkwatch/
has been updated with the final notices for #25550, SAC A, and #25921,
Ikonos 2 r debris C. There is also the first decay notice for the newly
catalogued #25953, Resurs F-1 M debris E.
I must agree with SpaceCom in placing the decay of #25550 near the
equator on a southbound pass across Africa from the Canary Is at
00:23 UTC to Johannesburg at 00:39 and Durban a minute later. The decay
time from my analysis is Oct 25 00:31 UTC +-15m. In fact, the equator
crossing at 5.6 deg E longitude occurred over the Gulf of Guinea after
passing just to the W of Lagos, Nigeria. OIG's elset for this rev is:
SAC-A 1.0 1.0 0.0 7.5 d 0.38 125 x 123 km
1 25550U 98069B 99297.99151976 .27648797 12863-4 12748-3 0 3546
2 25550 51.5555 226.4271 0001668 331.6936 29.0832 16.55867286 49619
I estimate that #25921 decayed at Oct 25 01:55 UTC +-30m while
southbound over the E Pacific near 32.6 N, 133.7 E, some 1,400 km W of
Los Angeles, CA. My predicted elset for the final rev:
Ikonos 2 r deb 1.0 0.0 0.0 7.0 d 1 122 x 110 km
1 25921U 99051C 99298.05514039 .99895924 24508+2 34700-3 0 91080
2 25921 98.1637 10.2286 0008868 35.2049 324.8536 16.58864951 4847
#25953 will decay at Oct 31 14:25 UTC +-1.5d by my calculation. This
enters eclipse while southbound near 75 deg N at ~19h local time and
leaves eclipse near 58 deg S at ~21:30 local time, also while
southbound.
In my latest SatEvo decay list, I predicted that #25889, Cosmos 2365,
might decay on October 28. This Russian military satellite has been re-
boosted several times, but another re-boost was overdue and it was
getting perilously close to a natural decay - hence its inclusion in the
decay list. In fact, it was reboosted about 24 hours ago from a 251 x
164 km orbit, to a higher one at 367 x 182 km. The current elset is:
Cosmos 2365 6.0 0.0 0.0 4.5 d 10 367 x 182 km
1 25889U 99044A 99298.50122463 .00572074 56402-5 34243-3 0 2144
2 25889 67.1120 354.3200 0139125 138.5728 222.6413 16.00073702 10897
Obviously, it is no longer in imminent danger of decay.
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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