I have updated my review of all USA 129 (96072A / 24680) reboosts during the life of USA 161 (01044A / 26943) for which I have orbital elements. The results are summarized below: 01044A lag 96072A boost UTC Lat h:mm:ss --------------------------- ---------- 2002 Apr 04 16:27 00.17 S +2:41:41 2002 Jun 27 15:09 81.45 N +2:40:31 2002 Sep 12 16:35 14.52 S +2:45:44 2003 Jan 17 14:03 39.72 N +2:39:00 2003 Mar 27 15:46 81.39 S +2:46:00 2003 Jun 05 18:44 42.13 N +2:40:39 2003 Aug 07 13:58 16.61 S +2:37:09 2003 Oct 16 14:33 31.89 S +2:48:44 2003 Dec 18 12:54 57.99 N +2:42:16 2004 Feb 12 17:34 60.42 N +2:44:06 2004 Mar 18 17:43 06.00 S +2:42:31 2004 Mar 23 14:16 09.74 N +2:42:16 2004 Jun 17 13:55 72.28 S +2:46:57 2004 Aug 26 15:21 29.90 N +2:40:19 2004 Nov 18 14:43 61.63 N +2:24:36 2005 Feb 03 16:49 49.42 S +2:36:38 2005 May 05 15:05 62.09 S +2:27:33 2005 Jul 21 15:14 49.20 N +2:16:20 2005 Oct 13 18:04 41.00 N +2:14:30 The reboost times ranged between 12:54 and 18:44 UTC, about a 6 hour span, that seems to fit nicely into an 8 h workday. During the past year, 01044A's lag behind 96072A at the time of time of the latter's manoeuvre has steadily decreased. It is likely that many factors unknowable by us influence the timing of reboosts. What is certain is that we should be alert for 96072A reboosts at 01044A lags as short as +2:14, a threshold I estimate will next be reached on 2006 Jan 14 UTC. USA 129's replacement in the KeyHole western orbital plane, USA 186 (05042A / 28888), was launched in October, so it will be interesting to see whether USA 129 will make its reboost. I recall rumours to the effect that new reconsats take several months to commission, in which case, USA 129 may still be the primary satellite. Ted Molczan ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe/Unsubscribe info, Frequently Asked Questions, SeeSat-L archive: http://www.satobs.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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