| T.R | Title | User | Personal
Name | Date | Lines |
|---|
| 425.1 | Explaining MIR and its movements in Earth orbit | DICKNS::KLAES | It's Bicycle Repair Man! | Fri Apr 15 1988 17:44 | 148 |
| From: [email protected]
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: What are MIR elements?
Date: 15 Feb 88 23:01:00 GMT
Answers to commonly asked questions about the posting of the MIR
elements.
1) WHAT IS MIR?
Mir (The Russian word means both `peace' and `world') is the first
space station permanently staffed by a human crew. It was launched in
November of 1986, and has had men on board continuously since February
of 1987. One crewman recently returned from a tour of duty exceeding
300 days.
2) WHAT ARE THE ORBITAL ELEMENTS?
The orbital elements of a body are a set of parameters that
completely describe its motion according to Newton's laws of motion.
Given an accurate set of elements, and assuming that no maneuvering
has been done since the elements were posted, a program can calculate
the position of the body at any given time.
3) WHY POST THE ORBITAL ELEMENTS?
The elements for Mir are interesting not only because Mir is
interesting in itself, but also because Mir is a highly visible
object; when it makes a close approach, it can be as bright as the
brightest stars. If you know where to look, it is easy to see Mir.
Moreover, some radio experimenters have been able to listen in on
Mir's operational communications and telemetry.
4) HOW DO YOU INTERPRET THE ORBITAL ELEMENTS?
The epoch day is the reference time for which the orbital elements
were calculated. It is expressed as yyddd.ffffff, where yy is the
year, ddd is the number of the day within the year (1 January = 1, 1
February = 32, etc.) and ffffff is the fraction of a day. The times
are in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC, also [inaccurately] called GMT).
The inclination is the angle between the plane of the orbit and
the plane of Earth's equator, in degrees. The line where these planes
intersect is called the nodal line.
The right ascension of the ascending node is the angle, measured
from west to east along Earth's equator, between the Sun's position at
the vernal equinox and the point on the nodal line where the satellite
crosses Earth's equator from south to north. Taken together the RA of
the ascending node and the inclination define the orbital plane
uniquely.
The eccentricity of the orbit is a pure number that determines how
much it varies from a circle. If a is the distance from the center of
Earth to the satellite at apogee and p is the distance to the
satellite at perigee, then the eccentricity is (a - p) / (a + p).
The argument of periapsis is the angle, measured along the plane
of the satellite's orbit, between the ascending node and the point
where the satellite reaches perigee.
The mean anomaly is somewhat difficult to explain. Imagine an
unusual clock with one hand moving at a uniform rate of speed,
completing one revolution for each revolution of the satellite.
Imagine further that the hand reaches noon just as the satellite
reaches perigee. The mean anomaly is the angle from noon to the
position of the hand at the epoch time, measured in degrees.
Given the imaginary clock just described, the mean motion is the
rate of speed at which the hand turns, measured in revolutions per day.
A satellite in low Earth orbit experiences a certain amount of
drag from the upper atmosphere, which causes its orbit to decay and
spiral in toward Earth. Paradoxically, as the orbit decays the
satellite moves faster; the acceleration of the mean motion describes
how fast the orbit is decaying. It is measured in revolutions per day
per day; the posting actually gives half the acceleration of mean motion.
5) HOW DO I USE THE ORBITAL ELEMENTS TO SEE MIR?
First, you should probably forget about attempting to do hand
calculations. The calculations are messy, since a number of effects
such as Earth's non-spherical shape (it's flattened at the poles) and
the drag from the upper atmosphere. The only really effective way to
do orbit predictions is to use a computer program.
There are several programs available to do the job. One source
for them is T.S.Kelso's `Celestial RCP/M', which operates 24 hours a
day and is accessible at +1 512 892 4180, 300/1200 baud, 8 data bits,
1 stop bit, no parity. The program that I use is SGP4-C, written by
Bob Wallis (amdcad!cae780!weitek!wallis); please don't ask me to mail
you a copy, as mine is obsolete and doesn't have all of Bob's latest
bug fixes. The program *is* available on Kelso's bboard, and that is
probably the best source for it.
The National Space Society also provides a Mir prediction service
for its membership, run out of the DC office. I can't vouch for the
predictions, since I've never tried them, but I have on occasion
telephoned them to get the latest orbital elements. They can be
reached by voice at +1 202 543 1900 (the front desk) or +1 202 543
4487 (the Mir Watch hotline). I understand that they also make an IBM
PC program for Mir prediction available to chapter leaders; I have
never tried it.
If you're feeling really ambitious and want to write your own
program, be prepared to learn a fair amount of physics. I am willing
to help out, *as time permits*, with serious inquiries; I have a
`cookbook' description of one fairly simple (as such things go!)
prediction algorithm that might be used as a starting point. I can
also recommend a couple of textbooks that I found useful.
6) HOW DO I OBSERVE MIR?
Observing Mir is fairly simple -- it's a naked-eye object. Find a
spot with as little interference from city lights as possible (as with
all sky-watching, the less man-made light, the better). Allow some
time for your eyes to become dark-adapted, and to familiarize yourself
with the stars along the projected path of the spacecraft through the
heavens.
Begin watching for the overflight several minutes before the
predicted time, and continue until several minutes after, if you
haven't spotted it. The crew maneuvers the spacecraft fairly
frequently, reboosting it as its orbit decays. The usual effect of
these maneuvers is to make overflights later than expected; this
effect is somewhat offset if a period of high solar activity has made
atmospheric drag greater than expected.
If you're watching with a party of several people, have someone
watch near the point of closest approach; the spacecraft brightens as
it approaches the viewing site, and can be missed while it is still
far away.
The spacecraft will be a moving, starlike object; some people have
mistaken it for a high-flying jet. It has some behaviors tha no jet
has, though: the most obvious one is that it reddens and passes from
view as it enters the shadow of Earth. Watch for this effect; Mir
is bright enough that the gradual eclipse is noticeable for a period
of several seconds.
Good hunting, and clear skies!
Kevin Kenny UUCP: {ihnp4,pur-ee,convex}!uiucdcs!kenny
Department of Computer Science ARPA: [email protected] ([email protected])
University of Illinois CSNET: [email protected]
1304 W. Springfield Ave.
Urbana, Illinois, 61801 Voice: (217) 333-8740
|
| 425.2 | Prediction format explanation | ECADSR::KINZELMAN | Paul Kinzelman | Fri Apr 22 1988 10:22 | 171 |
|
Hello, space enthusiasts!
You will be receiving predictions for Mir passes for your location
very soon. The format has changed since last time, as I have recently
implemented new software to do these predictions with. The following
quick explanation should acquaint you with this format.
I think the best way of doing this is by example. So, here is a sample
prediction:
Prediction for: Cambridge MA
Lat: 42.370000 Lonw: 71.100000 Ht: 0. Zone: 5.00000 DST: 1.0
Satellite: MIR COMPLEX 86017A 16609 Age: 21.3 days Unc: 385 sec
Local Date: 1988 4 4
TIME MAG ILL AZ EL R.A. DEC RANGE VANG
-------- ----- --- --- -- ----- ----- ----- ----
21:10:10 2.7 19 300 31 03:52 42.6 603 0.64
21:10:20 2.5 21 308 33 03:45 49.2 575 0.70
21:10:30 2.3 23 316 35 03:35 56.3 555 0.75
21:10:40 2.1 26 326 36 03:18 63.6 545 0.78
21:10:50 2.0 30 336 36 02:47 70.8 543 0.78
21:11:00 1.9 33 345 35 01:45 77.3 551 0.76
21:11:10 1.9 37 354 34 23:28 81.3 568 0.71
21:11:20 1.9 41 2 32 20:33 80.3 593 0.66
Explanation:
1) Header:
The actual prediction is preceeded by a header which gives general
information about the location, satellite, and date; as follows:
The first line shows the location name.
The second line shows the latitude, west longitude, height above sea
level, time zone, and saving time for your location. The latitude and
longitude are in DECIMAL DEGREES (not degrees/minutes/seconds!). The
sea level height is in metres - I left it at zero for most locations
since it would not make much difference to the prediction. (If you
have more accurate values of these three parameters, pass them along
to me and I'll update them.) The time zone is in hours, and is equal
to Greenwich time minus Local Standard time. The DST flag shows
whether Daylight Saving Time (Summer time) is in operation - it is 1
during summer time operation and zero otherwise. PLEASE check whether
these values are correct - I have been handling many of them and could
have made an error. In particular, BEWARE of the DST flag. DST comes
into effect right about now, and I have ASSUMED the rules for DST all
over the northern hemisphere are the same as for Toronto, Canada (where
I come from), namely, DST ON on the first Sunday of April and DST OFF
on the first Sunday of October. This is an unreasonable assumption,
but it was the best I could do under the circumstances. If your local
DST rules differ, please let me know. In any case, you could still
use the predictions even if the DST is wrong by adding or subrtracting
an hour (as is appropriate).
The third line gives information about the satellite. Its name,
international designator, and NORAD number appear in sequence. The
AGE value shows how many days have elapsed since the orbit was
determined. This is a useful parameter to estimate prediction
accuracy. In addition, an uncertainty value is provided - this shows
the maximum likely time error on the prediction and is based on the
likely error in the atmospheric density. You should keep this error
in mind when observing - in the above example you might want to start
observing some 8 minutes before the predicted pass and stick around
for 8 minutes after if the satellite does not show up on time.
The fourth line of the header shows the date in the format yyyy mm dd.
It also shows the predicted twilight times for your location. These are
NOT sunrise and sunset times; they are the times at which (according to
my best judgement), the sky is just dark enough for comfortable satellite
observing. I found out (experimentally, by sitting outside and watching
the darkness of the sky) that this occurs when the sun's elevation,
uncorrected for refraction, is about -8 degrees.
2) The Ephemeris:
A few points along the track are given, spaced out in such a way that
the satellite covers about 7 degrees on the sky between any two
points. With this format, you can easily plot the path on a star map.
A description of each column follows.
TIME: This is your LOCAL TIME, which takes into account your own time
zone and the Saving time correction (if in effect). The
format is hh:mm:ss.
MAG: The astronomical magnitude (brightness) of the satellite.
This is based on the averaged cross-section of the satellite,
and so the prediction is by no means exact; with Mir I have
seen deviations of up to 1 magnitude, probably due to the
relative orientation of the spacecraft.
ILL: This is the 'phase' of the satellite, completely analogous to
the phases of the moon. It is given in %. It's not terribly
important here, but it was already included in the program so
I thought I might as well keep it there. Note that solar cell
panel reflections might occur if this value is >~ 90%. These
appear as 'flashes' which last a couple of seconds and are
about 1-2 magnitudes in amplitude.
AZ: This is the azimuth or bearing of the satellite. It is an
angle measured eastwards from north in the observer's horizon
plane, so 0 = North, 45 =NE, etc. You should be able to
deduce that in the above example, Mir rises in the Norh-West,
and culminates in the North. Together with the elevation
value (next column), it's a useful way of finding the
satellite without using star maps.
EL: This is the satellite's elevation, in degrees above the
horizon. For amateur observation purposes, the higher the
satellite goes the better. Overhead passes (EL=~ 90) are
particularly spectacular.
R.A. The satellite's Right Ascension, in hours and minutes. The
assumed star chart epoch is 2000.0, but the error in using
1950 maps is negligible for this purpose. Together with the
Declination, the RA can be used to make a plot of the
satellite's path among the stars.
DEC. The satellite's Declination, in degrees and decimals.
Southern declinations are expressed as negative values.
RANGE The distance, in km, between the satellite and the observer.
As you can see from the example, near-circular orbit
satellites make their closest approach near culmination
(maximum elevation).
VANG The angular speed of the satellite, in degrees per second.
This tells us how fast the satellite will move. For
comparison, a satellite moving at 1deg/s (typical Mir speed)
could pass in front of the moon in 1/2 s.
Shadow Considerations: Unfortunately, I did not have time to implement
anything to indicate shadow entry/exit into the present program.
However, the program DOES do a shadow check and you can be assured
that all the predictions you receive WILL be out of shadow. You can
deduce that a satellite does enter shadow if the prediction is
terminated before the elevation goes down to 30 degrees (the normal
cut-off limit).
Conclusion: I have taken up more space than necessary to explain all
this. Oh well. Please excuse the rather casual style (plus possible
grammar error and typos). I figured I'd just throw this together
very quickly - I enjoy programming better than writing up doc.
Anyway, if you have any questions, etc., please feel free to address
them to me. I'll be glad to answer them.
Good luck in observing Mir!
-Rich
(Richard Brezina; [email protected])
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|
| 425.4 | MIRs new Orbit | SASE::BIRO | | Wed Apr 27 1988 09:03 | 15 |
| over last weekend MIR changed it orbit, it is now running
about 30 min late form nasa elem set 157, here is a best
fit homemade element set that should work untill I get a
true nasa one, it comes form RGO UK
Mir Set: 0 Object: 16609
Epoch Year: 1988 Day: 115.833297080 Orbit # 12542
Inclination = 51.62380000 R.A.A.N = 341.59180000
Eccentricity = 0.00226920 Arg of Per = 247.45520000
Mean Anomaly = 112.56760000 Mean Motion = 15.74588688
Drag = 0.13939E-02 Frequency = 143.625
S.M.A. = 6723.8965 Anom Period = 91.4525
Apogee Ht = 360.9944 Perigee Ht = 330.4786
|
| 425.5 | listen while you watch | STEREO::BROWN | Dukakis? Just say NO!!! | Thu May 12 1988 12:24 | 14 |
| I don't know if this is posted elswhere in this file -
while visually observing MIR, listen in to them on 143.625 MHz,
FM voice (in Russian, of course).
This frequency can be recieved on most scanners and 2-meter ham
radio equipment.
The Soyuz capsules used to transport crew-members to/from MIR have
been heard on 121.750 MHz, FM.
More information on this can be found in PARTIY::SWL
Gevaru Parushki, Tovarish?
|
| 425.6 | RE 425.5 | DICKNS::KLAES | Know Future | Thu May 12 1988 12:34 | 6 |
| That should be PARITY::SWL.
Press the KP7 or SELECT key to add SWL to your Notebook.
Larry
|
| 425.10 | re: 9 | HYDRA::BIRO | | Fri Jun 03 1988 13:36 | 18 |
| re:9
In order to dock the TM-5 I would expect Progress-36 to
be jetterson and deorbitded over this weekend. This typical
gives a rise in the SMA from about 3 to 17KM which would make
eqx crossing upto 20 min sooner then predicted by present
element sets - this would make the launch for several min
earlier to a complet orbit earlier.
I will try to get a new set as soon as P-36 is jetterson and
or get TASS prediction for launch for anyone trying to watch
it live on TV.
CNN most likly will cover it live
jb
|
| 425.11 | 14:05 Moscow time | HYDRA::BIRO | | Mon Jun 06 1988 08:36 | 8 |
| According to TASS the launch will be on the 7th of June
at 06:05 Moscow time
Since there is 4 Hours difference between Moscow and UTC
that laucnh should be at 14:05 UTC or 18:05 EST
jb
|
| 425.13 | re: 12 | HYDRA::BIRO | | Tue Jun 14 1988 15:28 | 22 |
|
RE:.12
radio aos/los of the 166 MHz tlm indicates that
the MIR complex is within +- 10 min of the
predictions
I think however that the Bulgarian mission is 10 days
not 8, and they have so many + SHIPA + experiments the crew
is working a long day, starting at 0900 Moscow time
unit 2400 Moscow time
experiments include a
+ZORA+ complex computer system used in the medica research
+SPECTRUM-256+ multichannel spectrumeter for remote sensing of Earth
+ROJEN+ a unique astronomical complex
jb
|
| 425.14 | I saw it! | ECADSR::KINZELMAN | Paul Kinzelman | Tue Jun 14 1988 23:07 | 1 |
| I saw it tonight about 38 sec later than predicted.
|
| 425.15 | Landing Friday | HYDRA::BIRO | | Wed Jun 15 1988 07:54 | 7 |
| yes I saw the visual last night, but I had it about a
min early but I am not using the posted calculations but
one done for my location. I am not sure if they have
changed orbit or I had picked up another object on
the TLM freq of 166 MHz, it is possible as 166MHz TLM
is a common freq for several red birds...
|
| 425.20 | Southern Hemisphere Observations? | DELNI::M_BIBER | | Mon Nov 28 1988 20:19 | 6 |
| I'd be interested in obtaining the MIR orbital predictions. I'm
Usually based in Sydney Australia.(Approx 35S,151E). Do you get
observations from the southern hemisphere? Would they be useful
for your program?
My best mailing address is SNOV21::BIBER or SNO 10-2 for hardcopy.
Thanks.
|
| 425.21 | Prediction pointer | ECAD2::KINZELMAN | Paul Kinzelman | Wed Nov 30 1988 17:21 | 6 |
| As I pointed out in .0, I'm not the generator of the predictions, I merely
post them. Send mail to the address in .0 - he's an MIT undergraduate and
I've had luck sending him mail via that address.
PS.. Is anybody interested in the postings I've been doing for Harvard and
the MIR news? If not, I won't bother posting them here.
|
| 425.22 | Saw MIR evening of 11/30/88 | HPSRAD::DZEKEVICH | | Thu Dec 01 1988 13:17 | 10 |
| Well, I saw MIR go over last night. I was returning from walking
the dog and saw a very bright "star" moving fast in a decending
polar orbit. I looked at the orbit projections and the time was
off by about 15-20 minutes. (My set is before their orbit change.)
I saw MIR several years ago, and its brighter than any satellite
and brighter than the shuttle too.
Joe
|
| 425.23 | Sighting reports to help predictions | ECADSR::KINZELMAN | Paul Kinzelman | Fri Dec 02 1988 10:48 | 4 |
| Whenever you see it, please send mail directly to:
DECWRL::"[email protected]"
as he needs this info to recalibrate his predictions (due to orbit boost,
etc.). Don't forget to calibrate your watch too.
|
| 425.26 | Am I off-base on this??? | LILAC::MKPROJ | REAGAN::ZORE I'm the NRA | Mon Dec 05 1988 12:35 | 42 |
| This will probably be taken the wrong way.
Why are people trying to obtain orbit predictions of the payload for this
shuttle flight? I've no illusions that the Soviets can accurately determine
what the orbit for this recon bird is, I'm just curious as to the mindset
of anyone in the US that would attempt to verify this determination by
collecting additional data thru the use of ground observers located in the
US.
Perhaps many of the readers of this file do not realize that, with any open
society, we all have a responsibility to the nation as a whole. I fear
that many of us do not fully comprehend the threat of espionage this
country faces. You see, it's SO EASY to collect data in this country,
particularly when our citizens don't think that "innocent" activities (such
as this note) can be used by those who do not have our (speaking as a
society) best interests at heart.
This was of course true during WWII when the exodus of a convoy bound for
England was observed and it is true now. The old expression "Loose lips
sinks ships" carries as much weight now as it did then although I would
admit that back then the consequences of "loose lips" had a more direct
relationship to a given ship and the families of those on that ship.
Intellegence activites are geared for the most part to collecting small,
seemingly insignificant bits of data (much like the pixels of a picture) and
then weaving these pixels into a detailed picture. One can claim that the
pixels mean nothing and have no intelligence value. True, it is the big
picture that has the value. Still the more pixels you have, the better the
quality of the picture.
I believe that this note is gathering pixels. I do not believe that the
author or anyone who responds to this note would ever attempt to gather
data for use by parties outside DEC. I realize that this is just an
exercise in intelletual curiosity and a fascination with the leap into
space by our species. Still...
"Loose lips sinks ships..."
Think about it.
Rich Zore
|
| 425.27 | you should have read their Kripts | PARITY::BIRO | | Mon Dec 05 1988 13:20 | 33 |
| re.26
In this case the secret is for the US only, it is a big joke,
Soviet Tracking Ships were withing range of the launch
and within two mins after LOS were send long KRIPTOGRAMS
back to Mother land (I am sure that the KRIPS did not have
the latest football scores) Several Soviet Spy Sat were launch
a week before STS 27 launch and then droped orbit for visual
observation. The Soviets seem to be as interested in who was
receiving the data as well as the spy satellite itself.
I can tell you the payload of a Soviet Satellite by the
data that is given with the internation object number.
The moral of the story if the US wants to keep a mission
a secret the US can not use the space shuttle, all its operating
parameters are know , ( max days in space, height, etc )
only a unmaned launch could have a chance of being a
almost secret event but it must have an internation
ojbect number to be legal.
Just as I can tell from the data on Soviet Satellites
from the internation catalog if it is a recon, a geodetic,
a navsat etc so can the Soviet do the same to our birds.
I can make a visual observation for about 2 hours around
Sun set/rise but he Soviets can track it for about 180 degrees
arounts its orbit.
jb
|
| 425.28 | Ohhhhh well... | LILAC::MKPROJ | REAGAN::ZORE I'm the NRA | Mon Dec 05 1988 14:09 | 32 |
| RE:< Note 425.27 by PARITY::BIRO >
Yes, I know that. Even the news shows on TV are debating why the launch is
being kept a secret.
I was going to delete the note , but now that a reply has been made to it
I'll leave it there to avoid confusion. I showed copies of notes .24-.26
to 3 of my friends. Two of them said I was out of line (one guy said I
owed the author of .24 & .25 an apology) the other I haven't heard from yet
although I'm sure he'll say the same thing as the other guys.
SOOOOOOOOO........ While I still think the way I did when I wrote the note
earlier...
YUM YUM
BITE BITE...
MUNCH, MUNCH, MUNCH
GULP!
Best crow I've had all week! :-)
Rich
P.S. I do hope no one felt hurt or insulted by my note. I assure you that
none was meant. I merely wanted to point out an aspect of life in these
United States which few people ever consciously think about. If someone
was hurt by my note then I offer my deepest apologies and regrets. Such
was not my intent.
|
| 425.29 | SET REPLY/OPINION=MY_OWN | DIXIE1::RIDGWAY | For one brief shining moment | Tue Dec 06 1988 08:51 | 16 |
| Rich,
Actually I may get flamed about this but since you went out on a
limb....I agree with you.
I don't believe that it should be announced *at all* when the shuttle
has a classified mission. The way the military and aerospace
contractors work with the NEED TO KNOW principle should be respected
by our liberal newsmedia. The American people do not NEED to know
what type of spy sat we launchand we sure as hell shouldn't make
it any easier for the Soviets.
Having worked for several years at Marshall Space Flight Center
I am appalled to see how lax security sometimes can be.
Regards, Keith R>
|
| 425.30 | the reason they were so open about it | BISTRO::ANDRADE | The sentinel (.)(.) | Tue Dec 06 1988 12:14 | 18 |
| Re .29
This is silly, why shouldn't the people know about it.
First the objective of secrets is to deny your enemies information
you don't want them to know. In a case like this your enemies the
soviets etc will always know this type of information, there is
no way to prevent them.
And if they already know it makes no sense to keep it from the
people or are you saying that the people are also the enemies.
Second one of the objectives of this satellite is to monitor
that arms agreements are being kept etc. So if the soviets didn't
know about it, then the US governament will tell then about it
anyway.
Gil
|
| 425.31 | Anything else, comrade? | MTWAIN::KLAES | Saturn by 1970 | Tue Dec 06 1988 12:24 | 10 |
| There was a Note I read once how an American wanted information
on the M-1 tank. The U.S. Government refused to give him any info,
so he called up the Soviet Embassy, and they supplied him with more
blueprints, documentation, and photos than he needed!
The moral of the story is - if the Soviets relied on VAX Notes
for secret military info, we'd have the safest country on the planet.
Larry
|
| 425.32 | Beg to differ. | SNDCSL::SMITH | IEEE-696 | Tue Dec 06 1988 13:54 | 10 |
| > The American people do not NEED to know what type of spy sat we launch
Oh yes we most certainly do need to keep an eye on what our government
is doing! You may trust them not to do anything to infringe our rights
or waste our tax dollars, but I'm not nearly so trusting. As has been
said before, if we can track lost tools in orbit the soviets know where
each of our active spysats is, but the minute someone says "security"
to me I know they have something to hide.
Willie
|
| 425.33 | Security does not imply something bad | ODIXIE::RIDGWAY | For one brief shining moment | Tue Dec 06 1988 14:27 | 28 |
|
RE: Oh yes we most certainly do need to keep an eye on what our government
> is doing!
Agreed 100%.
> You may trust them not to do anything to infringe our rights
> or waste our tax dollars, but I'm not nearly so trusting.
I never said anything about trust and wasting tax dollars. Open
trust to any government is naive and foolish.
> said before, if we can track lost tools in orbit the soviets know where
> each of our active spysats is, but the minute someone says "security"
> to me I know they have something to hide.
OK, so the soviets know where each spy sat is, my point is that we
don't need to make it any easier for them. Yes, you are right
on target when someone says "security" they DO have something to
hide. Classified programs exist reasons ranging from
"DIGITAL INTERNAL USE ONLY" to "TOP SECRET." One could be for
competative reasons the other is for national defense. Like it
or not part of the reason the shuttle exists is for military missions
and the need to know principle is still valid and no the "people"
are not the enemies.
Regards, Keith R>
|
| 425.34 | | SSDEVO::TAVARES | Oh yeah, life goes on... | Wed Dec 07 1988 10:07 | 13 |
| Has Aviation Leak done an article on this one yet?
I remember back in the mid '60s I was building a communications
satellite at Philco Ford (now Ford Aerospace) in Palo Alto. Of
course it was all hush-hush, but the week the first load went up
good ol' AW had an article, complete with cutaways! The only
thing classified was the frequencies. I'd suspect that this is a
similar case, and that photo interpretation is good enough
nowadays that the frequencies can be deduced from measurements of
the photographs (the antennas).
To show you how long ago that was, at least one load was lost on
the Vanguard rocket.
|
| 425.35 | | LILAC::MKPROJ | REAGAN::ZORE I'm the NRA | Wed Dec 07 1988 13:59 | 36 |
| Well, it seems I've started a rat hole, so here's an attempt to close it.
I agree with most of what has been said here about the need for security,
about how government uses the security issue to hide waste, about how
capable the Soviets and our own media are in uncovering secrets.
My only purpose in bringing up the issue was to impress upon everyone that
security, company wide, nation wide IS an issue. As a person involved in
computers now and as a person who used to have some dealings with military
intelligence, I can honestly say that many intelligence activities are
devoted towards the gathering of seemingly insignificant facts. Facts and
bits of data that by themselves have no meaning whatsoever but when sorted
and merged with facts and bits of data (pixels) collected over the long
term from many different sources (and many of these sources are in the
public domain) give an incredably accurate picture of somthing.
Should the military have tried to keep the launch data secret when it would
only be found out in due course by EVERYONE? Heck, I don't know. The
military works in strange ways, some of which I don't understand. I've
heard that they have deliberatly flubbed weapons systems tests to make the
other guys think they were having problems. I've heard they have
deliberatly covered up the fact that a weapons system didn't work so they
could get more funding.
I suppose the thing that started it all was the attempt to enlist as wide an
audience as possible to help in the data collection effort. I figured that
many of those involved wouldn't have given a single thought to the security
issue. If I have caused some to think a bit on the subject, even if they
do decide to proceed, I suppose I've accomplished my primary objective.
If you reread my intial note, you'll see that the very last thing I said
was a simple call to "Think about it."
And with that why don't we return to watching MIR?
Rich
|
| 425.38 | MIR running Fast | PARITY::BIRO | | Tue Dec 27 1988 08:02 | 3 |
| MIR is running early, about 5 to 10 min
I saw MIR this am 27 DEC about 142 deg AZ 72 deg El at 06:33 EST
|
| 425.39 | Seen(!) at Clinton, Mass. | ANT::TRANDOLPH | | Tue Dec 27 1988 09:47 | 3 |
| I also saw it this morning, about the same time. I was going by one of the older
predictions which gave 06:10 as the time - had already given up by the time it
appeared! First time I've seen it - much brighter than I expected. -Tom R.
|
| 425.47 | Moving | PARITY::BIRO | | Tue Apr 25 1989 09:52 | 6 |
| Today the 25th of APR I notice that MIR has once again
raised it orbit. I now find it is running about 6 min
later then the lasteset NASA element set.
john
|
| 425.48 | MIR? | HPSRAD::DZEKEVICH | | Thu May 04 1989 14:19 | 8 |
| Just an FYI. I was out last night with the dog and at 9:48 EST
(01:48 5/4/89 GMT) I saw a very bright satellite go over. It was
very fast (indicating a low orbit) and in an ascending polar orbit.
Conditions were partially cloudy, and I could track it through the
clouds with binoculars.
|
| 425.52 | MIR 8-MAY-91 to 18-MAY-91 | 25491::KINZELMAN | Paul Kinzelman | Thu May 09 1991 08:25 | 396 |
|
1991 May 8th
Back from hibernation...
It's been a while! As most of you probably guessed, school has gotten
to me again. Now there are 2 more weeks left and the load has eased
slightly. So it will be 2 more sets of predictions before I take off!
(I'll be back in September.)
It's too bad too, because an observable shuttle mission has taken place
in the meanwhile, and I did not even have time to see it myself.
Keep a watch on Mir, at least those of you that can see it this week.
Here is an article a fellow observer has sent me:
-----
I received a msg from an observer who observed a mag 3 objects leading Mir
by 1 deg last night. He speculates that it was the Progress M7. You will
recall that they had considerable trouble docking that one, and there is
some reason to believe that there is insufficient fuel on-board it to permit
the usual de-orbit burn. So, those with a visibility window might want to
keep an eye on the vicinity of Mir. I hope to obtain elsets for the two
objects later today, which should settle the question. I will forward them
to all of you.
------
See if you can spot them!
Rich
Predictions for satellite Mir Complex
Interval 91 5 8 to 91 5 18:
Prediction for: Harvard MA
Lat: 42.500000 Lonw: 71.570000 Ht: 0. Zone: 5.00000 DST: 1.0
Satellite: Mir Complex 86017 A 16609 Age: 35.7 days Unc: 1961 sec
Local date: 1991 5 8 Dusk: 20:37 LT Dawn: 04:48 LT
TIME MAG ILL AZ EL R.A. DEC RANGE VANG
-------- ----- --- --- -- ----- ----- ----- ----
21:43:40 3.7 21 280 26 07:00 24.9 750 0.42
21:44:00 3.5 20 289 31 06:58 34.5 661 0.54
21:44:10 3.3 21 295 34 06:56 40.2 624 0.60
21:44:20 3.2 21 303 36 06:53 46.5 593 0.66
21:44:30 3.1 22 311 38 06:49 53.3 569 0.72
21:44:40 3.0 23 320 40 06:42 60.6 554 0.75
21:44:50 2.9 24 330 40 06:29 68.1 547 0.77
21:45:00 2.8 27 340 40 06:02 75.6 550 0.76
21:45:10 2.7 29 350 39 04:48 82.3 562 0.73
21:45:20 2.7 31 359 37 00:33 85.1 583 0.68
21:45:30 2.8 34 6 35 21:29 81.1 611 0.62
21:45:40 2.8 36 13 32 20:38 75.7 646 0.56
21:45:50 2.9 39 18 30 20:18 70.6 687 0.50
21:46:00 3.0 41 23 27 20:07 66.0 733 0.44
Prediction for: Harvard MA
Lat: 42.500000 Lonw: 71.570000 Ht: 0. Zone: 5.00000 DST: 1.0
Satellite: Mir Complex 86017 A 16609 Age: 36.7 days Unc: 2068 sec
Local date: 1991 5 9 Dusk: 20:38 LT Dawn: 04:47 LT
TIME MAG ILL AZ EL R.A. DEC RANGE VANG
-------- ----- --- --- -- ----- ----- ----- ----
20:38:20 1.0 68 81 71 12:44 42.1 389 1.05
20:38:30 1.1 70 71 62 13:36 44.6 415 0.93
20:38:40 1.3 72 67 53 14:25 45.4 451 0.79
20:38:50 1.5 72 64 46 15:06 45.1 495 0.66
20:39:00 1.7 73 62 41 15:39 44.1 544 0.55
20:39:10 1.9 73 61 36 16:06 42.8 598 0.46
20:39:30 2.3 73 60 28 16:46 40.0 716 0.33
Prediction for: Harvard MA
Lat: 42.500000 Lonw: 71.570000 Ht: 0. Zone: 5.00000 DST: 1.0
Satellite: Mir Complex 86017 A 16609 Age: 37.7 days Unc: 2184 sec
Local date: 1991 5 10 Dusk: 20:39 LT Dawn: 04:45 LT
TIME MAG ILL AZ EL R.A. DEC RANGE VANG
-------- ----- --- --- -- ----- ----- ----- ----
21:05:50 4.3 12 295 27 05:58 35.9 736 0.49
21:06:10 4.0 13 306 31 05:46 46.4 668 0.59
21:06:20 3.8 14 313 32 05:37 52.3 644 0.63
21:06:30 3.6 16 321 33 05:24 58.5 627 0.66
21:06:40 3.5 18 329 34 05:03 64.8 618 0.68
21:06:50 3.3 20 337 34 04:29 70.9 616 0.68
21:07:00 3.2 23 345 34 03:28 76.1 623 0.67
21:07:10 3.1 26 353 32 01:39 79.4 639 0.64
21:07:20 3.1 30 0 31 23:23 79.2 661 0.60
21:07:30 3.1 33 6 29 21:49 76.3 690 0.55
21:07:40 3.1 36 12 27 20:58 72.3 725 0.50
21:07:50 3.1 39 17 25 20:29 68.2 765 0.45
Prediction for: Harvard MA
Lat: 42.500000 Lonw: 71.570000 Ht: 0. Zone: 5.00000 DST: 1.0
Satellite: Mir Complex 86017 A 16609 Age: 44.8 days Unc: 3079 sec
Local date: 1991 5 17 Dusk: 20:48 LT Dawn: 04:37 LT
TIME MAG ILL AZ EL R.A. DEC RANGE VANG
-------- ----- --- --- -- ----- ----- ----- ----
22:48:40 3.5 20 329 31 06:43 63.5 666 0.46
22:49:00 2.9 25 339 38 07:11 73.8 571 0.61
22:49:10 2.6 29 346 41 07:54 79.9 533 0.70
Prediction for: Harvard MA
Lat: 42.500000 Lonw: 71.570000 Ht: 0. Zone: 5.00000 DST: 1.0
Satellite: Mir Complex 86017 A 16609 Age: 45.7 days Unc: 3212 sec
Local date: 1991 5 18 Dusk: 20:49 LT Dawn: 04:36 LT
TIME MAG ILL AZ EL R.A. DEC RANGE VANG
-------- ----- --- --- -- ----- ----- ----- ----
21:41:40 3.2 35 17 25 21:31 67.8 765 0.55
21:41:50 3.1 39 24 25 20:50 64.2 765 0.55
21:42:00 3.0 43 30 25 20:20 60.0 771 0.54
Predictions for satellite Seasat
Interval 91 5 8 to 91 5 18:
Prediction for: Harvard MA
Lat: 42.500000 Lonw: 71.570000 Ht: 0. Zone: 5.00000 DST: 1.0
Satellite: Seasat 78064 A 10967 Age: 36.0 days Unc: 88 sec
Local date: 1991 5 9 Dusk: 20:37 LT Dawn: 04:48 LT
TIME MAG ILL AZ EL R.A. DEC RANGE VANG
-------- ----- --- --- -- ----- ----- ----- ----
02:20:50 5.0 63 112 42 19:39 14.4 1081 0.34
02:21:10 4.9 60 104 47 19:40 21.7 1007 0.39
02:21:30 4.9 57 94 52 19:40 30.0 949 0.44
02:21:50 4.8 53 80 56 19:41 39.1 911 0.47
02:22:10 4.9 49 62 58 19:43 48.8 895 0.49
02:22:30 5.0 45 44 57 19:47 58.5 902 0.48
02:22:50 5.2 41 28 54 19:54 67.8 931 0.45
02:23:10 5.4 38 16 49 20:11 76.4 981 0.41
02:23:30 5.6 35 7 44 21:06 83.8 1049 0.36
02:23:50 5.8 32 1 39 03:03 87.1 1131 0.32
02:24:10 6.1 30 356 35 06:03 82.4 1224 0.27
Prediction for: Harvard MA
Lat: 42.500000 Lonw: 71.570000 Ht: 0. Zone: 5.00000 DST: 1.0
Satellite: Seasat 78064 A 10967 Age: 37.1 days Unc: 93 sec
Local date: 1991 5 10 Dusk: 20:38 LT Dawn: 04:47 LT
TIME MAG ILL AZ EL R.A. DEC RANGE VANG
-------- ----- --- --- -- ----- ----- ----- ----
03:23:30 4.8 97 206 35 16:21 -9.0 1231 0.31
03:23:50 4.7 97 213 38 16:05 -4.0 1164 0.34
03:24:10 4.6 96 222 40 15:46 1.6 1111 0.37
03:24:30 4.6 95 232 43 15:26 7.4 1075 0.40
03:24:50 4.6 92 243 44 15:04 13.4 1057 0.41
03:25:10 4.6 89 255 44 14:40 19.3 1059 0.41
03:25:30 4.7 85 266 42 14:15 24.8 1079 0.39
03:25:50 4.8 81 275 40 13:48 29.7 1118 0.37
03:26:10 5.0 76 284 37 13:21 33.7 1173 0.34
03:26:30 5.2 72 291 34 12:54 37.0 1242 0.30
03:26:50 5.4 68 297 31 12:27 39.5 1323 0.27
Prediction for: Harvard MA
Lat: 42.500000 Lonw: 71.570000 Ht: 0. Zone: 5.00000 DST: 1.0
Satellite: Seasat 78064 A 10967 Age: 38.0 days Unc: 98 sec
Local date: 1991 5 11 Dusk: 20:39 LT Dawn: 04:45 LT
TIME MAG ILL AZ EL R.A. DEC RANGE VANG
-------- ----- --- --- -- ----- ----- ----- ----
02:48:30 4.5 75 142 55 18:41 12.9 920 0.41
02:48:50 4.4 73 138 64 18:30 21.4 852 0.47
02:49:10 4.3 70 129 73 18:16 31.0 805 0.53
02:49:20 4.3 68 118 78 18:08 36.0 791 0.55
02:49:30 4.3 66 94 82 17:58 41.2 782 0.56
02:49:40 4.3 64 49 83 17:47 46.4 781 0.56
02:49:50 4.4 62 14 80 17:33 51.5 786 0.55
02:50:00 4.4 59 358 75 17:16 56.4 797 0.54
02:50:10 4.5 57 351 71 16:55 60.9 815 0.52
02:50:20 4.6 55 347 66 16:29 65.0 838 0.49
02:50:40 4.9 50 342 57 15:17 71.3 901 0.43
02:51:00 5.1 46 340 49 13:38 74.4 981 0.36
02:51:20 5.4 43 338 42 11:58 74.2 1075 0.31
02:51:40 5.7 41 337 37 10:44 72.1 1178 0.26
02:52:10 6.1 37 336 30 09:40 67.7 1348 0.21
Prediction for: Harvard MA
Lat: 42.500000 Lonw: 71.570000 Ht: 0. Zone: 5.00000 DST: 1.0
Satellite: Seasat 78064 A 10967 Age: 39.0 days Unc: 103 sec
Local date: 1991 5 12 Dusk: 20:41 LT Dawn: 04:44 LT
TIME MAG ILL AZ EL R.A. DEC RANGE VANG
-------- ----- --- --- -- ----- ----- ----- ----
02:13:00 5.7 48 92 31 21:00 19.2 1304 0.30
02:13:20 5.7 45 85 34 21:07 25.3 1240 0.33
02:13:40 5.7 42 77 36 21:15 31.9 1190 0.35
02:14:00 5.7 38 68 38 21:25 38.9 1156 0.37
02:14:20 5.8 35 59 39 21:39 46.0 1139 0.38
02:14:40 5.9 32 49 39 21:58 53.1 1141 0.38
02:15:00 6.0 29 39 38 22:25 59.7 1161 0.37
02:15:20 6.2 27 30 36 23:02 65.5 1198 0.35
02:15:40 6.4 24 23 33 23:55 70.0 1251 0.32
02:16:00 6.5 23 16 31 01:05 72.8 1317 0.29
Prediction for: Harvard MA
Lat: 42.500000 Lonw: 71.570000 Ht: 0. Zone: 5.00000 DST: 1.0
Satellite: Seasat 78064 A 10967 Age: 39.1 days Unc: 103 sec
Local date: 1991 5 12 Dusk: 20:41 LT Dawn: 04:44 LT
TIME MAG ILL AZ EL R.A. DEC RANGE VANG
-------- ----- --- --- -- ----- ----- ----- ----
03:52:10 5.1 96 244 30 15:00 3.3 1357 0.32
03:52:30 5.1 94 251 30 14:42 7.9 1350 0.32
Prediction for: Harvard MA
Lat: 42.500000 Lonw: 71.570000 Ht: 0. Zone: 5.00000 DST: 1.0
Satellite: Seasat 78064 A 10967 Age: 40.0 days Unc: 108 sec
Local date: 1991 5 13 Dusk: 20:42 LT Dawn: 04:43 LT
TIME MAG ILL AZ EL R.A. DEC RANGE VANG
-------- ----- --- --- -- ----- ----- ----- ----
03:16:10 4.3 87 192 56 17:25 9.4 910 0.44
03:16:30 4.2 86 206 62 17:04 17.2 861 0.49
03:16:50 4.2 83 227 67 16:39 25.5 833 0.52
03:17:00 4.2 81 241 68 16:25 29.7 829 0.53
03:17:10 4.2 79 255 67 16:09 33.7 830 0.52
03:17:20 4.3 77 268 66 15:52 37.6 838 0.51
03:17:30 4.3 75 279 64 15:34 41.2 852 0.50
03:17:40 4.4 72 288 61 15:14 44.5 871 0.48
03:18:00 4.6 67 300 54 14:31 49.9 926 0.43
03:18:20 4.9 63 307 48 13:45 53.5 999 0.37
03:18:40 5.1 58 312 42 13:00 55.6 1085 0.32
03:19:00 5.4 55 316 37 12:18 56.5 1183 0.27
03:19:30 5.8 50 320 30 11:26 56.2 1345 0.22
Prediction for: Harvard MA
Lat: 42.500000 Lonw: 71.570000 Ht: 0. Zone: 5.00000 DST: 1.0
Satellite: Seasat 78064 A 10967 Age: 41.0 days Unc: 114 sec
Local date: 1991 5 14 Dusk: 20:43 LT Dawn: 04:42 LT
TIME MAG ILL AZ EL R.A. DEC RANGE VANG
-------- ----- --- --- -- ----- ----- ----- ----
02:40:30 5.1 56 107 43 20:28 17.6 1070 0.36
02:40:50 5.0 53 98 47 20:29 25.2 1003 0.40
02:41:10 5.0 50 87 52 20:31 33.7 953 0.44
02:41:30 5.0 46 72 55 20:34 42.8 923 0.47
02:41:50 5.1 43 55 55 20:39 52.3 915 0.48
02:42:10 5.2 39 39 54 20:48 61.7 930 0.46
02:42:30 5.4 36 25 50 21:03 70.5 966 0.43
02:42:50 5.6 33 15 46 21:39 78.4 1022 0.39
02:43:10 5.8 31 7 41 23:37 84.5 1094 0.34
02:43:30 6.0 29 1 37 04:28 84.7 1179 0.30
02:43:50 6.3 28 357 32 06:21 80.4 1275 0.26
Prediction for: Harvard MA
Lat: 42.500000 Lonw: 71.570000 Ht: 0. Zone: 5.00000 DST: 1.0
Satellite: Seasat 78064 A 10967 Age: 42.1 days Unc: 120 sec
Local date: 1991 5 15 Dusk: 20:44 LT Dawn: 04:40 LT
TIME MAG ILL AZ EL R.A. DEC RANGE VANG
-------- ----- --- --- -- ----- ----- ----- ----
03:42:40 5.0 94 198 32 17:24 -13.2 1288 0.28
03:43:10 4.8 95 207 37 17:01 -6.1 1171 0.33
03:43:30 4.6 95 215 41 16:44 -0.7 1109 0.37
03:43:50 4.6 94 225 43 16:24 5.2 1063 0.40
03:44:10 4.5 92 236 45 16:02 11.3 1035 0.42
03:44:30 4.5 90 248 46 15:39 17.5 1026 0.42
03:44:50 4.6 86 260 45 15:13 23.4 1037 0.42
03:45:10 4.7 82 271 43 14:46 28.7 1067 0.39
03:45:30 4.9 78 281 40 14:18 33.3 1115 0.36
03:45:50 5.0 74 289 37 13:49 37.0 1179 0.33
03:46:10 5.2 70 295 33 13:21 39.9 1255 0.29
Prediction for: Harvard MA
Lat: 42.500000 Lonw: 71.570000 Ht: 0. Zone: 5.00000 DST: 1.0
Satellite: Seasat 78064 A 10967 Age: 43.0 days Unc: 125 sec
Local date: 1991 5 16 Dusk: 20:46 LT Dawn: 04:39 LT
TIME MAG ILL AZ EL R.A. DEC RANGE VANG
-------- ----- --- --- -- ----- ----- ----- ----
03:07:50 4.7 69 138 51 19:35 10.2 963 0.38
03:08:10 4.5 68 134 59 19:27 18.1 888 0.44
03:08:30 4.4 66 126 67 19:16 27.2 830 0.50
03:08:40 4.4 64 118 72 19:10 32.2 810 0.52
03:08:50 4.4 62 106 76 19:03 37.3 796 0.54
03:09:00 4.4 61 84 79 18:54 42.5 787 0.55
03:09:10 4.4 59 52 80 18:44 47.8 786 0.56
03:09:20 4.5 57 25 77 18:31 52.9 791 0.55
03:09:30 4.5 55 8 74 18:16 57.9 803 0.53
03:09:40 4.6 53 359 69 17:56 62.5 820 0.51
03:09:50 4.7 51 353 65 17:31 66.8 844 0.49
03:10:10 5.0 47 347 56 16:17 73.4 907 0.42
03:10:30 5.2 44 343 49 14:24 76.7 986 0.36
03:10:50 5.5 41 341 42 12:28 76.3 1080 0.31
03:11:10 5.7 39 339 36 11:10 73.7 1183 0.26
03:11:40 6.1 37 338 30 10:07 68.8 1352 0.21
Prediction for: Harvard MA
Lat: 42.500000 Lonw: 71.570000 Ht: 0. Zone: 5.00000 DST: 1.0
Satellite: Seasat 78064 A 10967 Age: 44.0 days Unc: 131 sec
Local date: 1991 5 17 Dusk: 20:47 LT Dawn: 04:38 LT
TIME MAG ILL AZ EL R.A. DEC RANGE VANG
-------- ----- --- --- -- ----- ----- ----- ----
02:32:30 5.9 42 90 31 21:47 19.9 1326 0.30
02:33:00 5.9 38 80 34 21:58 29.1 1238 0.34
02:33:20 5.9 35 71 36 22:07 35.7 1198 0.36
02:33:40 5.9 32 62 37 22:20 42.6 1174 0.37
02:34:00 6.0 29 53 37 22:37 49.5 1167 0.38
02:34:20 6.2 26 44 37 23:00 56.1 1179 0.37
02:34:40 6.3 24 35 35 23:32 62.1 1207 0.35
02:35:00 6.5 22 27 33 00:16 67.1 1252 0.33
02:35:20 6.6 21 20 31 01:15 70.6 1311 0.30
Prediction for: Harvard MA
Lat: 42.500000 Lonw: 71.570000 Ht: 0. Zone: 5.00000 DST: 1.0
Satellite: Seasat 78064 A 10967 Age: 44.1 days Unc: 131 sec
Local date: 1991 5 17 Dusk: 20:47 LT Dawn: 04:38 LT
TIME MAG ILL AZ EL R.A. DEC RANGE VANG
-------- ----- --- --- -- ----- ----- ----- ----
04:11:10 5.1 97 233 30 16:08 -2.6 1355 0.31
04:11:30 5.0 96 240 31 15:51 2.1 1327 0.32
04:11:50 5.0 94 248 31 15:33 6.9 1314 0.33
04:12:10 5.0 92 256 31 15:14 11.6 1316 0.33
04:12:30 5.1 89 263 30 14:54 16.0 1334 0.32
Prediction for: Harvard MA
Lat: 42.500000 Lonw: 71.570000 Ht: 0. Zone: 5.00000 DST: 1.0
Satellite: Seasat 78064 A 10967 Age: 45.1 days Unc: 137 sec
Local date: 1991 5 18 Dusk: 20:48 LT Dawn: 04:37 LT
TIME MAG ILL AZ EL R.A. DEC RANGE VANG
-------- ----- --- --- -- ----- ----- ----- ----
03:35:30 4.4 83 184 55 18:22 8.0 918 0.43
03:35:50 4.2 82 195 62 18:02 15.8 861 0.48
03:36:10 4.2 80 215 68 17:39 24.2 825 0.52
03:36:20 4.2 79 229 70 17:26 28.6 816 0.53
03:36:30 4.2 77 246 71 17:11 32.9 814 0.54
03:36:40 4.2 75 262 70 16:55 37.0 817 0.53
03:36:50 4.3 73 276 68 16:37 41.0 827 0.52
03:37:00 4.4 71 286 65 16:17 44.6 843 0.50
03:37:10 4.4 69 295 62 15:56 47.8 865 0.48
03:37:30 4.7 64 305 54 15:10 53.0 924 0.42
03:37:50 4.9 60 312 48 14:20 56.3 1000 0.36
03:38:10 5.2 56 316 41 13:32 58.0 1090 0.31
03:38:30 5.4 53 319 36 12:49 58.4 1190 0.27
Prediction for: Harvard MA
Lat: 42.500000 Lonw: 71.570000 Ht: 0. Zone: 5.00000 DST: 1.0
Satellite: Seasat 78064 A 10967 Age: 46.0 days Unc: 143 sec
Local date: 1991 5 19 Dusk: 20:49 LT Dawn: 04:36 LT
TIME MAG ILL AZ EL R.A. DEC RANGE VANG
-------- ----- --- --- -- ----- ----- ----- ----
03:00:00 5.3 49 102 42 21:17 19.7 1076 0.36
03:00:20 5.2 46 93 47 21:19 27.3 1013 0.40
03:00:40 5.2 43 82 50 21:23 35.8 967 0.44
03:01:00 5.2 40 68 53 21:28 44.8 942 0.46
03:01:20 5.3 37 52 53 21:36 54.0 939 0.47
03:01:40 5.4 34 37 51 21:49 63.0 957 0.45
03:02:00 5.6 32 25 48 22:13 71.4 997 0.42
03:02:20 5.8 30 15 44 23:05 78.6 1055 0.37
03:02:40 6.0 28 8 39 01:23 83.4 1128 0.33
03:03:00 6.2 27 2 35 04:57 82.9 1215 0.29
That's all, folks!
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To: ecadsr::kinzelman
To: ecadsr::kinzelman
|
| 425.53 | Watch for TM12 also | 3149::BIRO | | Fri May 10 1991 08:27 | 9 |
|
Dont forgot to watch for TM-12 also!!!
TM-12 will lauch sometime soon, possible between
the 16 and the 18th of May. It too is visiable
and can be seen catching up to MIR.
|
| 425.54 | MIR 9/25/91-10/2/91 (not very good sightings) | PLOUGH::KINZELMAN | Paul Kinzelman | Thu Sep 26 1991 12:17 | 76 |
|
1991 Sep 18
Hi!
I blundered, of course, and put in 8/26 instead of 9/26 as the final
date on your last predictions - which means everyone got a blank one.
Addtionally, about 10 of you got predictions with out of date
elements, by mistake. This mailing should finally be correct.
Rich
Predictions for satellite Mir Complex
Interval 91 9 25 to 91 10 2:
Prediction for: Harvard MA
Lat: 42.500000 Lonw: 71.570000 Ht: 0. Zone: 5.00000 DST: 1.0
Satellite: Mir Complex 86017 A 16609 Age: 6.6 days Unc: 40 sec
Local date: 1991 9 25 Dusk: 19:18 LT Dawn: 05:59 LT
TIME MAG ILL AZ EL R.A. DEC RANGE VANG
-------- ----- --- --- -- ----- ----- ----- ----
19:30:20 4.5 12 259 27 14:49 10.9 800 0.45
19:30:40 3.9 17 249 30 15:25 6.6 734 0.54
19:30:50 3.6 20 242 31 15:45 4.0 710 0.57
19:31:00 3.4 24 236 33 16:06 1.2 692 0.60
19:31:10 3.2 28 228 33 16:27 -1.7 681 0.62
19:31:20 3.0 32 221 33 16:49 -4.8 677 0.63
19:31:30 2.9 37 213 33 17:11 -7.9 681 0.62
19:31:40 2.8 41 206 32 17:33 -10.8 693 0.60
19:31:50 2.8 46 199 31 17:54 -13.6 711 0.57
19:32:00 2.7 50 193 30 18:14 -16.2 736 0.53
19:32:10 2.8 54 188 28 18:33 -18.6 767 0.49
19:32:30 2.8 60 179 25 19:08 -22.5 844 0.41
Predictions for satellite Seasat
Interval 91 9 25 to 91 10 2:
Prediction for: Harvard MA
Lat: 42.500000 Lonw: 71.570000 Ht: 0. Zone: 5.00000 DST: 1.0
Satellite: Seasat 78064 A 10967 Age: 12.6 days Unc: 5 sec
Local date: 1991 9 30 Dusk: 19:11 LT Dawn: 06:03 LT
TIME MAG ILL AZ EL R.A. DEC RANGE VANG
-------- ----- --- --- -- ----- ----- ----- ----
04:00:50 5.6 51 351 32 18:13 77.7 1298 0.28
Prediction for: Harvard MA
Lat: 42.500000 Lonw: 71.570000 Ht: 0. Zone: 5.00000 DST: 1.0
Satellite: Seasat 78064 A 10967 Age: 14.6 days Unc: 6 sec
Local date: 1991 10 2 Dusk: 19:07 LT Dawn: 06:05 LT
TIME MAG ILL AZ EL R.A. DEC RANGE VANG
-------- ----- --- --- -- ----- ----- ----- ----
Prediction for: Harvard MA
Lat: 42.500000 Lonw: 71.570000 Ht: 0. Zone: 5.00000 DST: 1.0
Satellite: Seasat 78064 A 10967 Age: 15.6 days Unc: 7 sec
Local date: 1991 10 3 Dusk: 19:06 LT Dawn: 06:06 LT
TIME MAG ILL AZ EL R.A. DEC RANGE VANG
-------- ----- --- --- -- ----- ----- ----- ----
03:51:30 6.0 39 14 31 12:34 74.0 1324 0.22
03:52:00 5.5 45 10 37 11:35 80.9 1163 0.28
That's all, folks!
|
| 425.55 | Ham radio address for MIR | VERGA::KLAES | Life, the Universe, and Everything | Wed Mar 03 1993 15:29 | 16 |
| Article: 13211
From: [email protected] (Mike Hartmann)
Sender: [email protected]
Newsgroups: sci.space.shuttle
Subject: 1993 Mir qsl info
Date: Mon, 01 Mar 1993 19:38:19 -0600
1993
MIR QSL ADDRESS
RV3DR
SPACE QSL MANAGER
CHIEF OF COSMONAUT AMATEUR RADIO DEPARTMENT NPO "ENERGIA"
P.O. BOX 73
KALININGRAD-10, MOSCOW AREA, 141070, RUSSIA
|
| 425.56 | Request for a very recent element set for MIR | LEVERS::BATTERSBY | | Tue May 03 1994 17:44 | 13 |
| Has anybody seen a very recent element set (like this week) for MIR?
I have an element set which is a little over a month old, but I suspect
that perhaps last week or over the weekend MIR made some adjustment
in their orbit. The last time I made a visual was Sunday evening
as it made a NW to NE passage about 1� hours after sunset (don't
remember the exact time). Since then (like last night), I have not
been able to see it and it wasn't for lack of clear (or almost clear
skies). My STSPLUS software had two predictions that I should have
seen last night, and I didn't see either passage. So either the orbit has
changed and it either came through earlier, or later than the predicted
times.
Bob
|
| 425.57 | | skylab.zko.dec.com::FISHER | Carp Diem : Fish the Day | Wed May 04 1994 13:49 | 3 |
| Mir
1 16609U 86017A 94121.21867386 .00004107 00000-0 58425-4 0 5831
2 16609 51.6464 61.5147 0014535 204.0538 155.9777 15.58827982468727
|
| 425.58 | Thanks...... | LEVERS::BATTERSBY | | Wed May 04 1994 16:11 | 1 |
|
|
| 425.59 | | PRAGMA::GRIFFIN | Dave Griffin | Wed Jul 06 1994 10:39 | 14 |
| I don't know how many of you in the New England area were looking
skyward just before the fireworks began, but I'm pretty sure it was
Mir that made a pass overhead around 9:30 or so.
It was as bright as Jupiter for most of the pass, and for about 20
seconds it went at least 3 or 4 times brighter -- changing color from
a dull yellow to almost blue-white. I suspect it was the sun reflection
on the solar panels.
If it wasn't Mir -- it was still quite a show.
- dave
|
| 425.60 | It was MIR alright..... | 4371::BATTERSBY | | Wed Jul 06 1994 14:03 | 19 |
| It was MIR alright. It was the last pass we'll see here in
New England until some time in mid August or so. Then it will
start to appear again in the early morning hours eventually
moving into view in the evening again.
It was a nice pass pefect for reflection off large surfaces
like the solar panels with sunset having occured about an hour
before it making it pass. It's pass on the evening of the fourth
went roughly northwest to southeast with it highest altitude of
about 54 degrees. I was expecting it to go into shadow as it
got about 15 degrees over the southeast horizon (which it did).
The brightening was a nice surprise, ocurring when it was almost
due south and probably about 35-40 degrees up. The blue-white
was really intense, then it went into earth shadow. I've seen it
almost every clear night there has been a good viewing elevation
since mid June. The upcoming Shuttle flight of STS-68 in August
with an elevation of 57 degrees will hopefully offer some viewing
of both objects separately on the same night.
Bob
|
| 425.61 | MIR observations & pass predictions.... | 56821::BATTERSBY | | Thu Oct 13 1994 10:05 | 35 |
| Below are 2-line elements for MIR from NORAD element set #483.
I saw Mir on Sunday am, Tuesday am, and this morning.
This mornings passage was fairly high rising to 59 deg. passing roughly
northwesterly to Southeasterly. It popped out of earth shadow at about
42 degrees above the west horizon. It came within about 1/2 degree of
going through the Pleiades and brightened up quickly to about a -1 mag
until it got to about 35 degrees up from the southeast horizon. Then it
faded to about the same as a second mag star. Upcoming passes in the next
couple of days as seen from Westford, Mass. are shown below. By the 17th
Mir will have left the morning sky (for good viewing in this area), and
will start rising in elevation for viewing in the evening sky in this area.
The mid-west USA should start to get good viewing of MIR in the am starting
roughly this weekend into early next week, and then the west coast in the
am roughly into the following week.
BTW - It was still dark enough after the passage for me to check out how
close Mars is getting to the Beehive cluster. Later this month it is
going to occult the Beehive. That should be fun to watch. :-)
Aquisition of Satellite | Highest Elevation | Loss of satellite | Pass Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date EDT Time Azm EDT Time Alt Azm EDT Time Azm Duration
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
10/14/94 06:06:35 287.7 06:11:03 14 228.0 06:15:32 167.9 0:08:57
10/15/94 05:10:56 295.3 05:15:53 28 222.5 05:20:50 150.3 0:09:54 *
10/17/94 04:56:38 287.4 05:01:05 14 227.8 05:05:32 168.4 0:08:54 **
* Will pop out of shadow late in passage.
**Will pop out of shadow very late in passage.
2-line element set for MIR from NORAD #483 element set Oct 7, 1994
------------------------------------------------------------------
Mir
1 16609U 86017A 94280.02167417 .00013746 00000-0 19106-3 0 7938
2 16609 51.6465 346.7504 0002920 106.3923 253.7399 15.57299031493441
|
| 425.62 | | LHOTSE::DAHL | | Thu Oct 13 1994 13:34 | 4 |
| RE: <<< Note 425.61 by 56821::BATTERSBY >>>
Super. Thanks for the upcoming predictions.
-- Tom
|
| 425.63 | MIR back in New England morning sky viewing..... | NETCAD::BATTERSBY | | Fri Dec 09 1994 14:08 | 7 |
| Here are most recent 2-line elements for MIR as of DEC 5, 1994
Mir
1 16609U 86017A 94339.23503712 .00005895 00000-0 83274-4 0 8607
2 16609 51.6493 50.0286 0002632 344.1834 15.9076 15.58130919502673
Bob
|
| 425.64 | Another satellite "shadowing" MIR seen last night... | NETCAD::BATTERSBY | | Wed Oct 18 1995 14:01 | 18 |
| I was outside last evening and saw MIR make a pass roughly SW-NE
with it highest elevation reached of about 58� in the SE. This
pass occured between 7:15-7:24. Now while I was watching for MIR
to pop out of some trees in the SSW direction, I saw another
satellite going on a track more westerly of MIR and about 1+ minute
earlier. This satellite reached it highest elevation of almost
directly overhead. and was about the magnitude I'd expect of a
SOYUZ resupply ship. MIR of course reached its brightest mag of about
-1 or -2, and the other "thing" I saw was down around magnitude 1 or 2.
I had binoculars and it definitely wasn't a jet. So my question is
has anyone heard whether there is a resupply ship in orbit? Better yet,
did anyone else see it and were you able to confirm what it was?
I went back inside, and tried a whole host of COSMOS birds listed in
the latest version of the visual.tle file I pulled off the
mil/pub/space web site, on STSPLUS and couldn't find a match for the
time & track orientation.
Bob
|
| 425.65 | | skylab.zko.dec.com::FISHER | I've advocated term limits for 19 years! - Rep Bob Dornan | Wed Oct 18 1995 14:27 | 4 |
| There was a Progress launch a week or so ago, as I recall. It may have been
undocked but not yet de-orbited.
Burns
|
| 425.66 | Ahhhh Progress, that could have been it. | NETCAD::BATTERSBY | | Wed Oct 18 1995 16:10 | 9 |
| Yeah, that's it. The resupply ships are called Progress & the
personnel ships to exchange crews are called Soyuz. I momentarily
forgot the name (Progress) attributed to the re-supply ships.
Well...that has got a high probability of being what it was then.
I'll have to look in the tle file for things with an epoch date of
9527x.xxxxxxxx and an inclination close to that of MIR.
Thanks Burns.
Bob
|
| 425.67 | | skylab.zko.dec.com::FISHER | I've advocated term limits for 19 years! - Rep Bob Dornan | Mon Oct 23 1995 10:05 | 6 |
| According to "Jonathon's Space Report", Progress M29 was launched October 8 at
1851 UT. International designation is 1995-53A. According to the report (which
is as of last week sometime) 53A has not yet been deorbited. No indication as
to whether it really did detach from Mir or not.
Burns
|
| 425.68 | It's probably still attached | NETCAD::BATTERSBY | | Mon Oct 23 1995 13:15 | 14 |
| Yep, Progress M29 appears in the recent elements file on Kelso's
FTP area. The elements when run on a tracking program indicate that
it is still very much in close proximity to MIR. The object I saw
was way out of the orbit plane of MIR by close to a thousand miles.
It was probably some COSMOS rocket shell of which there are quite a
few still up there in high inclination orbits greater than MIR.
Alot of those rockets have tumbing rates which make them appear to
change in brightness over a period of a minute or two, of a magnitude
or so, which is what the object I saw do, as it changed from mag 2-3-2
or so over a 2-3 minute period. At least that's my rough judgement.
Anyhoo I haven't spent much more time on trying to figure out what
it was.
Bob
|