Iridium 69 reentry
ROB MATSON (ROBERT.D.MATSON@cpmx.saic.com)
5 Jun 1998 11:10:14 -0800
Hi all,
Using Alan Pickup's propagated elements for Iridium 69 CZ R/B (#25321),
I see that reentry over the continental U.S. or Canada is a possibility this
weekend. Alan's predicted decay is currently June 7.2 (i.e. about 5:00 UT
on Sunday morning). If the rocket body can hold on for one more rev,
reentry could occur northbound over Delaware, New Jersey or eastern
New York state around 2:32am EDT Sunday, June 7th.
The next rev takes the rocket body over Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas,
eastern Nebraska, and the border of Minnesota with the Dakotas from about
2:57am CDT to 3:03am CDT.
And (if I'm really lucky), the next rev makes landfall near Oxnard, CA at
2:26:30am PDT and heads north over Bakersfield, Sequoia National Park,
the Sierra Nevada and Bridgeport, CA before entering northwestern Nevada southeast of Lake Tahoe. Eastern Oregon and eastern Washington are
also on the flight-line. If the reentry occurs on this rev, southern California
will have an excellent vantage point.
Perigee is at about 18 degrees north latitude on each rev, making reentry
favorable north of this latitude on an ascending node. --Rob