Re: COSMOS 375
Jim Varney (jvarney@mail2.quiknet.com)
Sun, 29 Sep 1996 22:48:55 -0700
Jay Respler wrote:
[quoting from Teledyne Brown Engineering]
>Comments: Cosmos 375 was launched on a two-revolution rendezvous with Cosmos
>373. The fragmentation occurred in the vicinity of Cosmos 373. Cosmos 375
>was part of test series begun with Cosmos 249. Elements above are first
>reliable ones for orbit after final maneuver which took place immediately
>before fragmentation. [There is] Considerable cross-cataloging of Cosmos 374
>and Cosmos 375 debris...
>
>Which fails to answer your question: where's the rocket body?
>--
>
>
>First, should that be Cosmos 374 instead of 373?
No. Cosmos 373 was the target. C* 374 had a rendezvous with C* 373, but
was detonated nowhere near it. C* 375 was detonated near C* 373. I assume
the cross-cataloging of debris is due to the detonations occurring in
similar orbits only days apart. Debris has a way of quickly scattering all
over because the delta V's of the explosion propel the pieces into lots
of different mean motions and inclinations.
>Then, based on Jim's info, I looked at the Sat Sit Rept.
>
> Cat Design Name Country Period Incl Apo Per RCS
> 4594 70-089A COSMOS 374 CIS 106.5 63.0 1611 516 .047
> 4597 70-089B SL-11 R/B CIS 111.4 63.0 2038 545 15.0
> 4598 70-091A COSMOS 375 CIS 111.3 62.8 2041 533 4.9
> 4622 70-091B COSMOS 375 DEB CIS 101.8 62.7 1171 512 .13
> 4629 70-091J COSMOS 375 DEB CIS 111.2 62.9 2002 562 1.0
>
>If Cosmos 374 exploded, the RCS matches perfectly. The payload is now just a
>tiny piece of debris. The rocket is quite large.
>However, with the C375 launch, the only piece with a large RCS is A, labeled
>as the payload. No part is listed as the rocket, which should be the only
>large part. It would seem reasonable that what is now called payload A, is
>really the rocket. The payload is now the many debris pieces starting with B.
>
>Comments?
I'm not sure what conclusion to reach. Perhaps the booster and payload were
left attached together (C* 375 only made two orbits before detonation) and the
whole thing was called A.
-- Jim
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Jim Varney | 121^ 23' 54" W, 38^ 27' 28" N | Sacramento, CA
Member, SeeSat-L | Elev. 31 ft. |
Member, Sacramento Valley Astronomical Society |jvarney@mail2.quiknet.com
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