Greg Roberts has reported the first visual observations of both STSS Demo payloads, after a highly successful weekend of radio observation, as he described in the notes of the following post: http://satobs.org/seesat/Sep-2009/0270.html See also this message, for his initial observations of the trailing space craft: http://satobs.org/seesat/Sep-2009/0263.html Here are elements: STSS Demo 1 1332 X 1353 km 1 35937U 09052A 09271.78648550 .00000000 00000-0 00000-0 0 08 2 35937 57.9926 82.1220 0013272 323.4225 36.5809 12.79632862 05 Arc 20090928.75-0928.84 WRMS resid 0.013 totl 0.008 xtrk STSS Demo 2 1337 X 1352 km 1 35938U 09052B 09271.78796842 .00000000 00000-0 00000-0 0 07 2 35938 57.9917 82.1302 0009697 307.5736 52.4323 12.79040547 04 Arc 20090927.74-0928.84 WRMS resid 0.020 totl 0.010 xtrk The arc of 09052A is just one rev, so the derived elements are likely to change slightly, with additional observations. We cannot be certain that the above designations correspond to the official ones, and they are subject to change as we learn more. The payloads are box-like, with dimensions 2.26 m x 1.5 m x 1.75 m. They have a solar array, with a span of 12.3 m. Mass of each is 1,023 kg. Estimated standard visual magnitude is about 7 (1000 km, 90 deg phase angle), which is roughly consistent with Greg's observations. Ted Molczan ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe/Unsubscribe info, Frequently Asked Questions, SeeSat-L archive: http://www.satobs.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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