Re: OBSERVATIONS,
Jay Respler (jrespler@injersey.com)
Sun, 8 Sep 1996 03:48:17 -0400 (EDT)
Bjoern asked me: "Why do you have 08352 in the name field ?"
That's because I don't know exactly which object this is.
Here are some more observations and part of the original SeeSat comment that
prompted me to look for 08352 and the others.
Bart, do these observations help to id which object this is?
Would someone put this info into Flash?
>*** 1996 Aug 31 Sat morning *** Times are AM EDT *** 2021 532
> H M S Tim Azi ElC Dir Mag Dys F Hgt Shd Rng R A Dec RCS Name
> 3 19 49 .0 336 78C 91 20.6 9 7 665 25 677 030 50.2 08352
> mag >8 Brightened to 6.8 for few sec, then faded again.
*** 1996 Sept 1 Sun morning *** Times are AM EDT *** 2020 534
H M S Tim Azi ElC Dir Mag Dys F Hgt Shd Rng R A Dec RCS Name
2 16 5 .0 71 33 198 22.2 665 39 1055 450 34.3 08352
Unseen. Mag fainter than 8
7/14/96
H M S Tim Azi ElC Dir Mag Dys F Hgt Shd Rng R A Dec RCS Name
0 40 212 69C 20.6 Unseen. Mag fainter than 8 08352
6/27/96
H M S Tim Azi ElC Dir Mag Dys F Hgt Shd Rng R A Dec RCS Name
1 5 337 77C 20.8 Unseen. Mag fainter than 8 08352
6/26/96
H M S Tim Azi ElC Dir Mag Dys F Hgt Shd Rng R A Dec RCS Name
0 20 146 64C 20.6 08352
varied about 1 min from mag 4.4 to 7
*** 1996 July 5 Fri evening *** Times are PM EDT *** 2128 434
H M S Tim Azi ElC Dir Mag Dys F Hgt Shd Rng R A Dec RCS Name
10 54 58 .0 150 80C 271 20.6 8 3 671 355 680 1718 31.1 08197
mag 6.1 Maybe varied 1/2 mag very slowly
*** 1996 June 27 Thu morning *** Times are AM EDT *** 2130 429
H M S Tim Azi ElC Dir Mag Dys F Hgt Shd Rng R A Dec RCS Name
1 25 16 .0 146 63C 272 20.7=6.8 685 95 755 1950 16.4 08197
faded slowly. no rapid or large change in brigtness.
1 58 58 .0 341 81C 91 20.6=7.6 631 254 638 19 6 48.5 13492
maybe varied slightly.
6/25/96
H M S Tim Azi ElC Dir Mag RCS Name
2 11 153 73C 20.5= mag 5.0 Steady for 1 min. 13492
----------------------------
Date: Fri, 05 Jan 1996 18:53:22 +0100 (CET)
From: Bart De Pontieu <BDP@MPE.MPE-GARCHING.MPG.DE>
Subject: NORAD switches 75-82 A and B; 78-18 A and B
archive/latest/1383
The latest Satellite Situation Report contains the following entries :
8197 75-082A KIKU 1 (ETS 1) JPN 105.9 47.0 1102 975 2.1
8352 75-082B N-1 R/B JPN 105.9 47.0 1099 972 1.7
10674 78-018A UME 2 (ISS-B) JPN 107.2 69.4 1220 974 1.9
10675 78-018B N-1 R/B JPN 107.1 69.4 1216 973 1.7
I think NORAD has switched the payload and the rocket in both cases. 78- 18 B
is really the payload Ume 2, and 75- 82 B is really the payload Kiku 1.
...............
The flash periods reported initially are just too close to the spin rate
to be coincidence. Also, look at what PW reports : F'fF'f
(i.e. a bright specular flash, followed by a fainter specular one, etc...)
That is exactly what you would expect from a set-up with 4 booms, 2 big
ones and 2 small ones.
76- 19 A (Ume 1) is identical in appearance (to 78- 18 B) : specular
flashes with a low and almost constant period.
What about the rockets ?
The late German observer Horst Koehnke observed 76-19 B 20 times between 1976
and 1980. It was steady 5 times, slowly var 13 times and twice seen flashing
(once with 3.48 and once with 2.20). The latter two observations are
possibly occasions where HK was observing 76-19A. Average mag over all these
passes was 7.85.
HK observed 78-18 A 3 times, once steady and twice slowly var.
Average mag was 8.6. And Mike McCants has 'a couple of observations of 78 18A
at intrinsic magnitude 7'.
The N-1 third stage is pretty faint and usually not flashing.
....
That NORAD has possible also switched A and B in the 75- 82 launch is
something new. One of those two objects (75- 82 A and 75- 82 B) is identical
with ETS-I (Engineering Test Satellite) , also called Kiku 1. On p. 981 of
Astronautica Acta, vol. 7, there is an interesting picture of ETS-I. It looks
remarkably similar to Ume 2, i.e. it has four long booms and is covered with
solar cells. The main body is a 26-hedron with about 80 cm diameter. It was
also spin-stabilized, unfortunately I haven't been able to find the nominal
spin rate of this satellite. The list of observations (as reported in the
PPAS of the BWGS) contains several indications that 75- 82 B is the payload
and not the rocket !
.............
Though the case is less strong than for Ume 2, just based on analogy, I
think it's safe to say that NORAD screwed up also with the 75- 82 launch.
It would be interesting to have recent observations of 75- 82 B and 75- 82 A.
If NORAD hasn't switched them by now, I would be willing to bet a lot of
money on it that 75- 82 A will be faint and steady, and 75- 82 B will be
flashing with a flash period well below 10 s.
...............
Who observes 82- 87 A, B and 75- 82 A, B and reports their observations
on SeeSat-L ?
Cheers,
Bart De Pontieu
----------------------------
Jay Respler
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