Decay watch: Cosmos 2358 & 2359 Soyuz rockets

Alan Pickup (alan@wingar.demon.co.uk)
Fri, 26 Jun 1998 22:58:28 +0100

The current OIG elset for the decaying Cosmos 2358 Soyuz-U rocket is:

C 2358 Soyuz r   6.0  2.0  0.0  5.0 d            284 x 155 km
1 25374U 98038B   98177.74439785  .03954099  00000-0  60356-3 0   193
2 25374  67.1217 169.9908 0097853  93.3877 267.8698 16.20018245   362

This shows it 5 seconds early with respect to the SatEvo evolution I
posted a day ago. My current analysis indicates decay at June 28.5
+-0.4d, but at least one of the recent elsets is suspect.

Prediction:
C 2358 Soyuz r   6.0  2.0  0.0  5.0 d            271 x 154 km
1 25374U 98038B   98178.05279492  .04614924  59120-2  59694-3 0 90197
2 25374  67.1208 168.9278 0088652  93.0538 267.9610 16.22738116   418
C 2358 Soyuz r   6.0  2.0  0.0  5.0 d            246 x 151 km
1 25374U 98038B   98178.54510760  .05950341  14592-1  55662-3 0 90198
2 25374  67.1191 167.2215 0071552  92.5180 268.3013 16.27825334   494
C 2358 Soyuz r   6.0  2.0  0.0  5.0 d            230 x 150 km
1 25374U 98038B   98178.79062468  .07343937  24746-1  54006-3 0 90194
2 25374  67.1180 166.3653 0061266  92.2493 268.4523 16.31058616   531
C 2358 Soyuz r   6.0  2.0  0.0  5.0 d            211 x 146 km
1 25374U 98038B   98179.03558687  .10320511  62856-1  52552-3 0 90190
2 25374  67.1165 165.5066 0048893  91.9799 268.5801 16.35280926   578
C 2358 Soyuz r   6.0  2.0  0.0  5.0 d            181 x 139 km
1 25374U 98038B   98179.27975298  .19977926  27373+0  49518-3 0 90195
2 25374  67.1144 164.6443 0032120  91.7095 268.6585 16.42103170   615

        ----------------------------------------------

Current elsets for the other recent Cosmos launch:
Cosmos 2359                                      275 x 183 km
1 25376U 98039A   98177.25859532  .00618683  72331-5  26103-3 0    60
2 25376  64.9114 156.9232 0069653  67.7742 293.1087 16.16457300   115
C 2359 Soyuz r   6.0  2.0  0.0  5.0 d            258 x 176 km
1 25377U 98039B   98177.75167194  .02318554  00000-0  71100-3 0   132
2 25377  64.9274 155.1169 0062347  60.3543 300.3658 16.20984800   215

The Soyuz-U rocket may decay at June 29.9 +-0.5d. This one enters
eclipse at about 48 deg N in the morning sky and leaves eclipse at about
50 deg S, again before dawn.

SatEvo prediction:
C 2359 Soyuz r   6.0  2.0  0.0  5.0 d            250 x 174 km
1 25377U 98039B   98178.05994318  .02980244  38879-2  81725-3 0 90133
2 25377  64.9268 153.9578 0057828  60.2147 300.3592 16.22826718   262
C 2359 Soyuz r   6.0  2.0  0.0  5.0 d            236 x 170 km
1 25377U 98039B   98178.55245641  .03737725  67935-2  83106-3 0 90131
2 25377  64.9257 152.0993 0049766  59.9909 300.5019 16.26101334   343
C 2359 Soyuz r   6.0  2.0  0.0  5.0 d            218 x 165 km
1 25377U 98039B   98179.04383831  .05211878  15036-1  84665-3 0 90133
2 25377  64.9243 150.2351 0040139  59.7667 300.6299 16.30404205   428
C 2359 Soyuz r   6.0  2.0  0.0  5.0 d            191 x 155 km
1 25377U 98039B   98179.53361243  .09809062  65366-1  77857-3 0 90138
2 25377  64.9220 148.3627 0027358  59.5417 300.7281 16.37231461   506

Alan
-- 
 Alan Pickup | COSPAR site 2707:   55d53m48.7s N   3d11m51.2s W    156m asl
 Edinburgh   | Home:      alan@wingar.demon.co.uk       +44 (0)131 477 9144
 Scotland    | SatEvo satellite page: http://www.wingar.demon.co.uk/satevo/