On 8/10/07, Jonathan McDowell <jcm@head.cfa.harvard.edu> wrote: > > The second stage clamp band is another story: based on the Delta press kits, > you'd expect two clamp band halves cataloged for EVERY three-stage > Delta launch, but this never happens. Is anyone familiar enough with > the vehicle to definitely confirm that the clamp band halves really > are released into orbit? It is possible that there is a mechanism > on the second stage to keep them attached, as on some other vehicles. > If they are released, why are they never tracked? Perhaps they attain orbit only when the second stage itself is orbited? And perhaps in those instances they stay up only for a few days, not long enough to be tracked and catalogued? ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe/Unsubscribe info, Frequently Asked Questions, SeeSat-L archive: http://www.satobs.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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