Re: Decay watch: Iridium 69 rocket

Alan Pickup (alan@wingar.demon.co.uk)
Sat, 6 Jun 1998 19:42:03 +0100

The decay of this Long March rocket has slipped later and westwards much
more than I expected (or, for the sake of US observers, hoped).

The latest elset from OIG ...
Iridm 69 CZ r   10.0  3.0  0.0  4.5 d            226 x 143 km
1 25321U 98026C   98157.65577308  .04978518 -12678-5  23286-3 0  1290
2 25321  86.3307 276.0712 0063185  26.8933 333.5695 16.33002655  5562
... shows it 26 seconds late against the "9122" evolution in my previous
posting on this decay.

My current prediction is for decay at June 7.57 (14h UTC +- 4h).  If
this timing is correct, it could drop over the Pacific not far from the
International Date Line.

Iridm 69 CZ r   10.0  3.0  0.0  4.5 d            219 x 142 km
1 25321U 98026C   98157.77826006  .05900680  19119-1  25195-3 0 91293
2 25321  86.3302 276.0005 0058746  26.3521 333.9455 16.34376451  5586
Iridm 69 CZ r   10.0  3.0  0.0  4.5 d            204 x 140 km
1 25321U 98026C   98158.02293961  .07867414  37626-1  26141-3 0 91294
2 25321  86.3291 275.8587 0048681  25.2676 334.9697 16.37690051  5623
Iridm 69 CZ r   10.0  3.0  0.0  4.5 d            183 x 136 km
1 25321U 98026C   98158.26702980  .12524953  11182+0  27003-3 0 91295
2 25321  86.3273 275.7164 0035933  24.1797 335.9883 16.42473123  5668
Iridm 69 CZ r   10.0  3.0  0.0  4.5 d            176 x 134 km
1 25321U 98026C   98158.32792638  .14978753  16877+0  27343-3 0 91297
2 25321  86.3268 275.6808 0031969  23.9069 336.2412 16.44137763  5672
Iridm 69 CZ r   10.0  3.0  0.0  4.5 d            167 x 132 km
1 25321U 98026C   98158.38875463  .18922065  28902+0  27913-3 0 91295
2 25321  86.3261 275.6450 0027444  23.6338 336.4920 16.46178257  5689
Iridm 69 CZ r   10.0  3.0  0.0  4.5 d            157 x 128 km
1 25321U 98026C   98158.44949616  .26526007  62912+0  29156-3 0 91299
2 25321  86.3252 275.6092 0022015  23.3602 336.7395 16.48878433  5696
Iridm 69 CZ r   10.0  3.0  0.0  4.5 d            141 x 122 km
1 25321U 98026C   98158.51011351  .49322805  26206+1  33436-3 0 91291
2 25321  86.3239 275.5733 0014713  23.0858 336.9801 16.53146104  5703

Alan (who hopes to post again prior to its re-entry)
-- 
 Alan Pickup | COSPAR site 2707:   55d53m48.7s N   3d11m51.2s W    156m asl
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