Standardized IR report format + IR 20 important note
MALEY, PAUL D. (paul.d.maley1@jsc.nasa.gov)
Thu, 7 May 1998 12:16:09 -0500
Jim Varney has produced an excellent proposal for standardizing reporting of
Iridium flare observations which has been submitted to SEESAT in a separate
message. I fully support such a generic format. Rich Keen yesterday
assembled about 30 Iridium observations before sending them in one message,
which I also think is a good idea -- it keeps a lot of unnecessary message
traffic off the net. I have suggested a modification to Jim which he should
post soon that includes an annotation about specifically commenting on
double flares. Though these are rare, it is important to report them as
they may provide a clue as to their cause.
One important element that is included in Jim's format is the identification
of the MMA. Igor's recent comment that some flares from IR 5 observed
exactly as predicted from one antenna are apparently separate from other
flares from IR 5 that are not being observed. It is not clear if there is a
direct and consistent correlation. But including the MMA identifier will
help.
Though IR 20 has been declared a failure, SEESAT readers should be aware
that the satellite currently listed in OIG element sets as IR 18 is really
the failed IR 20!! The real IR 18 is actually showing as IR 20. This
swapping can happen when two Iridiums pass by each other spatially and
USSpacecommand sensors mistag one for another.
SEESAT readers are invited to either submit reports on the Iridium predicted
vs. observed brightnesses either to SEESAT or directly to me at the address
below.
Paul
Paul D. Maley
United Space Alliance
DO5/Cargo Operations
NASA Johnson Space Center
Houston TX 77058 USA
tel. 281-244-0208
email: paul.d.maley1@jsc.nasa.gov
latitude 29.6049 north, longitude 95.1086 west