Dear Seesaters, First, one has to be aware that only the so called three-axis stabilized geostationary satellites are relevant here. An arbitrary example: http://www.hughespace.com/factsheets/601/palapa_c/palapa_c.html The attitude rules for these satellites are the following: - the antennae have to point to the earth (for obvious reasons) - the rotation axis of the solar panels as defined by the bearings on the satellite body has to be parallel to the earth's rotation axis - the plane normal of the panels points to the celestial equator at the sun's longitude The last rule makes sure that the plane normal of the panels is always within about 23 degrees of the sun. (BTW: I have never seen ANY public relations image showing a sat in the correct attitude!!) Therefor, you see flares on the NORTHER hemisphere when the sun is south of the equator and vice versa! Your list "without tracking" should be correct! Rainer ----------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe from SeeSat-L by sending a message with 'unsubscribe' in the SUBJECT to SeeSat-L-request@lists.satellite.eu.org http://www2.satellite.eu.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Mon Mar 05 2001 - 04:13:05 PST