Decaying NEAR and Iridium rockets
Alan Pickup (alan@wingar.demon.co.uk)
Tue, 13 Jan 1998 21:28:35 +0000
As the NEAR spacecraft prepares to swing by the Earth, the Delta 2
rocket which launched it almost two years ago is nearing re-entry. Also
into its last few days is the Chinese CZ-2C (Long March) rocket which
launched Iridiums 42 & 44 on December 8.
The latest elsets from OIG for these are:
NEAR r 5.4 2.9 0.0 5.5 d 546 x 144 km
1 23785U 96008B 98013.53387010 .03778778 -10077-4 50295-3 0 5083
2 23785 25.8954 144.3170 0298958 353.4179 6.2508 15.74803572 77752
Iridm CZ-2C r 10.0 3.0 0.0 3.0 d 353 x 161 km
1 25079U 97077C 98013.40961611 .01310492 -13530-5 39315-3 0 962
2 25079 86.2797 102.5826 0144401 26.7176 334.1464 16.06321167 5666
NASA's current 60-day decay forecast (issued on January 9) has these
decaying on January 14 and 12 respectively. My current SatEvo
calculations suggest that more realistic dates are January 18 and 20.
Predicted elsets for the next couple of days:
NEAR r 5.4 2.9 0.0 5.5 d 525 x 144 km
1 23785U 96008B 98014.04020224 .03879540 16310-2 50503-3 0 95084
2 23785 25.8947 140.5243 0283316 359.8398 0.1514 15.78568450 77834
NEAR r 5.4 2.9 0.0 5.5 d 502 x 144 km
1 23785U 96008B 98014.54527549 .04141911 18705-2 52055-3 0 95080
2 23785 25.8940 136.7196 0266753 6.2819 354.0460 15.82617344 77910
NEAR r 5.4 2.9 0.0 5.5 d 478 x 144 km
1 23785U 96008B 98015.04900378 .04455771 23119-2 53628-3 0 95085
2 23785 25.8933 132.9022 0249141 12.7455 347.8728 15.86942620 77995
NEAR r 5.4 2.9 0.0 5.5 d 452 x 144 km
1 23785U 96008B 98015.55129572 .04849652 29558-2 55299-3 0 95084
2 23785 25.8925 129.0711 0230240 19.2324 341.6225 15.91608520 78073
NEAR r 5.4 2.9 0.0 5.5 d 423 x 144 km
1 23785U 96008B 98016.05203664 .05363921 39600-2 57075-3 0 95089
2 23785 25.8916 125.2252 0209709 25.7445 335.2846 15.96710299 78152
Iridm CZ-2C r 10.0 3.0 0.0 3.0 d 344 x 161 km
1 25079U 97077C 98014.03223932 .01421617 42369-3 40797-3 0 90965
2 25079 86.2791 102.2316 0138049 24.0704 336.5690 16.08057755 5769
Iridm CZ-2C r 10.0 3.0 0.0 3.0 d 336 x 160 km
1 25079U 97077C 98014.52986484 .01488942 48106-3 41109-3 0 90964
2 25079 86.2785 101.9505 0132755 21.9498 338.6136 16.09505418 5844
Iridm CZ-2C r 10.0 3.0 0.0 3.0 d 328 x 160 km
1 25079U 97077C 98015.02703324 .01565673 55068-3 41429-3 0 90967
2 25079 86.2780 101.6689 0127245 19.8267 340.6634 16.11023205 5924
Iridm CZ-2C r 10.0 3.0 0.0 3.0 d 320 x 159 km
1 25079U 97077C 98015.52372232 .01654157 64037-3 41759-3 0 90960
2 25079 86.2774 101.3869 0121492 17.7010 342.7189 16.12621361 6001
Iridm CZ-2C r 10.0 3.0 0.0 3.0 d 311 x 159 km
1 25079U 97077C 98016.01990645 .01757635 75654-3 40849-3 0 90960
2 25079 86.2768 101.1046 0115459 15.5724 344.7799 16.14312824 6083
Alan
--
Alan Pickup | COSPAR site 2707: 55d53m48.7s N 3d11m51.2s W 156m asl
Edinburgh | Home: alan@wingar.demon.co.uk +44 (0)131 477 9144
Scotland | SatEvo satellite page: http://www.wingar.demon.co.uk/satevo/