Congratulations to our Russian friends on the 50th anniversary of the launch of Sputnik 1. It was also the launch of satellite observation, so it is a dual anniversary here on SeeSat-L. I encourage one and all to share your thoughts on the significance of Sputnik 1, or your stories about tracking the early the satellites. A quick personal note: in celebration of Sputnik 1, I am producing a 2-line orbital elements history of its final stage rocket, through analysis of observations by Moonwatch and professional observers. I am pleased to report that the work is now nearing fruition. I now have more than 20 elsets spanning the final 52 days of the object's 58 days in orbit. Several of the solutions are not quite complete, but if all goes well, I expect to post the results in the next few days. Some time later, I will document the analysis and data on our web site, including nearly 1,000 observations in the U.K. format. Ted Molczan Admin, SeeSat-L ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe/Unsubscribe info, Frequently Asked Questions, SeeSat-L archive: http://www.satobs.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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