Ted Molczan wrote: > If this interpretation is correct, then I believe that the available clues now > point more strongly to a 68 deg inclination than my earlier guess of 57 deg. Very good analysis ! Congrats for your implication in the Titan IV launch story published in Florida Today at http://www.flatoday.com/space/explore/stories/2000b/081600c.htm This is a good example of how dedicated amateur work can benefit the public at large and give a sense at all those positional observations we see reported on SeeSat-L even if they are of little interest to the beginner like I was 2 years ago. I think it should be a high priority for all on SeeSat to track this launch and every observation is important even if it's not reported in a standard format. A description of the pass seen in relation to reference stars and a good fix on time can give some useful clues. As complementary info, I've read this in Aviation Week & Space Technology in the August 7 issue, p.66 about last May launch : "The NRO also is moving toward operation of its new Enhanced Imaging System satellite, the first of which could have been launched last May from Vandenberg. (Deak's note : May 1999, 1999-028A, #25744, USA 144) The EIS is designed for broader area coverage, longer dwell time over target and more rapid transmission. The EIS is an upgraded version of the high-resolution advanced version of the Lockheed-Martin KH-11 type optical/infrared series used by the NRO for many years. There are two primary advanced KH-11 types now in orbit, possibly still supported by a third older satellite." Question to Ted : What would be those 3 satellites they are talking about ? Could they be USA 116, 129 and 86 ? Cheers, Dan -- Daniel Deak Drummondville, Quebec COSPAR site 1746 : 45.8537°N, 72.4857°W, 90 m., UTC-4:00 Site en francais sur les satellites: French-language satellite web site : http://www.obsat.com ----------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe from SeeSat-L by sending a message with 'unsubscribe' in the SUBJECT to SeeSat-L-request@lists.satellite.eu.org http://www2.satellite.eu.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Wed Aug 16 2000 - 11:49:21 PDT