Hello All The element set in my original message (reproduced below) was derived from radio observations. Peter Wakelin has since observed a satellite in a similar orbit and has produced the following element set: 1 90027U 04841A 05298.82021647 0.00000000 00000-0 00000-0 0 00 2 90027 62.4213 174.5679 6901062 267.6805 339.6809 2.00630906 09 Revisiting the radio observations confirms that rise and set times are consistent with this orbit. It may now be possible to identify the satellite. The following data points exist: RAAN of "Unknown 041206" From Mike McCants' classified file - 2005 May 7.0: 194.2 degrees RAAN of the NROL-1 Centaur from an element set by Mike McCants - 2004 Sep 1.0: 233.0 degrees Calculating back from Peter's new element set, I make the equivalent values at the above dates 196.6 degrees and 228.3 degrees. Given the inclination of our unidentified and of "Unknown 041206" being 62.4 degrees, and the fact that USA-179 made a slight inclination change after it separated from the Centaur, I believe that we are looking at multiple views of the same object. A reasonable conclusion is that our unidentified satellite is USA-179/NROL-1. Regards Bob Christy > -----Original Message----- > From: Bob Christy [mailto:rdc@zarya.info] > Sent: 19 October 2005 21:20 > > 1 80000U 05000A 05278.68515000 .00000000 00000-0 00000-0 0 0001 > 2 80000 63.4000 172.0000 7108823 279.5000 180.0000 2.00599011 00001 > ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe/Unsubscribe info, Frequently Asked Questions, SeeSat-L archive: http://www.satobs.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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