--- On Fri, 19 Dec 1997 19:27:46 +0100 Alexander Seidel <ase@mail.stelljes.de> wrote: >Is there any empirical update list out there of all those Iridiums that >are not expected to flare up as they should and would do under "normal" >circumstances, i.e. with an axis-orientation and overall deployment well >within the desired limits? Hello All, If you haven't looked at it before, try the Iridium Flare page on VSOHP http://www.satellite.eu.org/iridium.html http://www2.satellite.eu.org/iridium.html There is a section there that provides a link to Alan Pickup's web-page and his iridiums.tle file. That elset provides the orbital parameters on line 0. The iridium.html page tries to keep the orbital status up-to-date, but the orbital parameters on line 0 of the tle is routinely updated several times a day. In addition, there is the thumb rule that a mean motion of 14.34 rev/day is required to ensure the prediction will be accurate. So, rigorously speaking, no the iridium.html page does not attempt to maintain a list of those Iridiums that are not expected to flare as predicted, but a frequent look at the iridiums.tle elset should give you the information you need. Jeff Hunt <jeff@satellite.eu.org>