Björn Gimle observed what is likely USA 161 (01044A / 26934), on 2011 Sep 07 near 22:28 UTC: http://satobs.org/seesat/Sep-2011/0068.html It was running ~28 min late, but close to the track predicted by my latest search elset, which was a good fit to Russell Eberst's observations on Sep 03 near 23:34 UTC, and Scott Tilley's of Sep 06 near 07:08 UTC: 422 X 897 km 1 70021U 11249.28447509 .00000145 00000-0 10000-4 0 04 2 70021 98.0484 3.6840 0337237 180.6490 179.4327 14.69611075 02 That search elset replaced the ones I posted Sep 05, which were based on my now disproved hypothesis that the final result of the manoeuvres would be a circular orbit of mean motion near 14.51 rev/d: http://satobs.org/seesat/Sep-2011/0046.html It now appears that the main purpose of the manoeuvres is to considerably rotate the line of apsides. The object was a no-show for Scott Tilley early on Sep 07 UTC in the 70021 orbit, which suggests that it had already manoeuvred. The following search elements are based on manoeuvre on Sep 06 near 09:14, 12:28 and 19:02 respectively: 410 X 1023 km 1 70022U 11250.93788566 .00000142 00000-0 10000-4 0 07 2 70022 97.9745 4.9186 0431962 158.3280 203.6832 14.51872514 06 410 X 1034 km 1 70023U 11250.93788950 .00000140 00000-0 10000-4 0 03 2 70023 97.9745 4.8997 0439195 156.6940 205.4857 14.50227741 08 410 X 1063 km 1 70024U 11250.93779985 .00000137 00000-0 10000-4 0 08 2 70024 97.9745 4.9956 0458979 157.3760 204.8401 14.45732322 02 I doubt it would have manoeuvred much earlier or later, so the above should be useful in bracketing searches, until it manoeuvres again. They indicate a further rotation of the line apsides, in addition to raising the apogee, but the elements are approximate, so be prepared for track errors of at least 1 deg, depending on elevation. Happy hunting! Ted Molczan _______________________________________________ Seesat-l mailing list http://mailman.satobs.org/mailman/listinfo/seesat-l
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