SNAPShot - was re: Misc. Obs.
Philip Chien (kc4yer@amsat.org)
Sat, 20 Mar 1999 21:39:34 -0500
Mir16609@aol.com said:
>Evening of 17 March:
>While waiting for OAO 2 to pass R->L below Betelgeuse (210az, 50el), I
>observed an UNID traveling L->R at 00:34 UTC. It quickly (00:34:13 UTC)
>flared to about a +1 mag for a few seconds, then became a +6.0. About 20
>seconds after the original flare it briefly flashed at a +3 then went below
>the limiting brightness (+6.5). I later ID'ed it as Snapshot D.
>Snapshot (D) 1.1 0.0 0.0 8.1 d 1262 x 1227
>1 01389U 65027D 99070.11291839 +.00000040 +00000-0 +10000-3 0 02272
>2 01389 089.8358 101.8180 0023171 285.3422 074.5123 13.04384117607651
I hope you had your lead goggles on Don!
SNAPshot was the only time (that I know of) where the U.S. put a nuclear
reactor (as opposed to RTG) in orbit.
I've got a reference which says that the mission was a partial success and
then put in to the nuclear-safe storage orbit (high enough to ensure no
natural reentry for a bunch of time).
Another reference says that since 1979 (22 years after the launch) many
objects have separated from the primary object, I would _guess_ that this
would imply that it's breaking up.
But since this particular object has a fairly low NORAD number it's
presumably a small rocket body, or part of the system which was discarded
when it was raised in to its parking orbit.
Philip Chien, KC4YER
Earth News
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