Scott Campbell, Mike McCants and Greg Roberts managed to observe AEHF 1 (10039A / 36868), despite
its apparently having made large manoeuvres. It is a difficult object due to its slow rotation, with
often faint minima, so they did very well to find it and keep track of it long enough to generate a
large number of points.
The following fits, but the arc was only about one quarter of a rev, and it may have manoeuvred
during the arc, so beware!
AEHF 1 2706 X 50910 km
1 70007U 10253.94087283 .00000000 00000-0 00000-0 0 09
2 70007 18.2299 302.9750 7262729 192.0275 129.4464 1.43626704 07
Arc 20100910.91-0911.29 WRMS resid 0.023 totl 0.018 xtrk
Here is a different solution, which results from fitting an orbit to Greg's obs, then assuming it
manoeuvred near the subsequent apogee, which was before Mike and Scott's obs, then fitting an orbit
to that:
2940 X 52003 km
1 70008U 10254.65190214 .00000000 00000-0 00000-0 0 08
2 70008 18.1972 302.9083 7247205 191.2318 132.7283 1.39425641 03
When the arc is so short, it is easy to generate pretty outlandish results, so I do not have great
confidence in either of the above. Probably best to use 70007, and be prepared for it to be quite a
bit early or late.
Unfortunately, I have run out of time for analysis.
Happy hunting!
Ted Molczan
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