Decay watch: Final orbit of the Foton 12 rocket

Alan Pickup (alan@wingar.demon.co.uk)
Sat, 25 Sep 1999 03:31:05 +0100

My final prediction for the decay of #25903, the Foton 12 Soyuz rocket,
shows an increased possibility that the event may be visible across
parts of Canada and the USA within the next hour. I currently compute
re-entry at September 25 03:02 UTC near the Washington-Montana border,
though the uncertainty is some 40 minutes.

Perigee on the final predicted orbit...

Foton12 Soyuz r  7.4  2.4  0.0  5.5 d   10       125 x 116 km
1 25903U 99048B   99268.10493902 1.07208294  11947+2  42095-3 0 90484
2 25903  62.7665 147.5418 0007134 109.4775 250.5996 16.57253751  2472
 
occurs NW of Vancouver at 02:57 UTC, and it may not even make it as 
far as this. If it does survive, it passes NE of Vancouver at 03:00, 
then across the W USA from Spokane, Washington, at 03:01 to San Antonio, 
Texas, at 03:07. 

More details are at 
      http://www.wingar.demon.co.uk/satevo/dkwatch/

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
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