Decaying Iridium rockets
Alan Pickup (alan@wingar.demon.co.uk)
Mon, 13 Apr 1998 19:50:46 +0100
Two Iridium rockets, a Delta 2 and a Long March (CZ-2C), should decay
within the next ten days or so.
Their latest elsets are:
Iridm 19 Delta r 5.9 2.4 0.0 5.6 d 260 x 203 km
1 24970U 97056F 98103.16901785 .01299602 -12941-5 81098-3 0 2610
2 24970 83.5921 267.9193 0043174 297.7906 61.8974 16.15548899 31070
Ir 51 CZ-2C r 12.0 3.5 0.0 4.3 d 468 x 165 km
1 25264U 98018C 98103.22404224 .01088293 -15239-5 49460-3 0 541
2 25264 86.3759 4.2170 0226011 97.7369 264.8896 15.84858341 2895
My current prediction is for the Iridium 19 Delta 2 to decay at about
April 17.0 (+-0.6d) and for the Iridium 51 Long March to follow it about
April 23 (+-2d).
Predicted elsets for the Delta:
Iridm 19 Delta r 5.9 2.4 0.0 5.6 d 248 x 198 km
1 24970U 97056F 98104.03536329 .01920520 18177-2 98105-3 0 92614
2 24970 83.5910 267.0675 0037994 294.2126 65.3908 16.18647316 31212
Iridm 19 Delta r 5.9 2.4 0.0 5.6 d 241 x 195 km
1 24970U 97056F 98104.52965509 .02233817 24251-2 99224-3 0 92614
2 24970 83.5903 266.5797 0034693 292.1637 67.4684 16.20693924 31291
Iridm 19 Delta r 5.9 2.4 0.0 5.6 d 232 x 191 km
1 24970U 97056F 98105.02327277 .02673636 36558-2 99875-3 0 92616
2 24970 83.5894 266.0909 0031049 290.1111 69.5549 16.23101407 31372
Iridm 19 Delta r 5.9 2.4 0.0 5.6 d 221 x 186 km
1 24970U 97056F 98105.51608468 .03377454 61986-2 10063-2 0 92618
2 24970 83.5884 265.6010 0026923 288.0541 71.6526 16.26052810 31451
This leaves eclipse at around 25-30 deg N latitude moving northbound
before dawn and has shadow entry over Antarctica.
The Long March has shadow exit southbound near 78 deg S and shadow entry
while southbound at about 65 deg N before local midnight.
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
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