FW: Iridium 21 (97-34E, #24873) -- NO FLARE!

MALEY, PAUL D. (paul.d.maley1@jsc.nasa.gov)
Fri, 24 Oct 1997 12:35:13 -0500

One should not assume that all Iridiums will flare per Rob/Randy's
programs. Rather assume that Iridium 21, 11, 27, and 36 which are not in
the operational orbits, will probably not flare.  The mean motion that
signals an operational satellite should be 14.34.

Paul D. Maley
United Space Alliance
DO5/Cargo Operations
NASA Johnson Space Center
Houston TX 77058 USA

phone: 281-244-0208
email:      paul.d.maley1@jsc.nasa.gov
latitude 29.5378 north; longitude 95.0868 west; altitude 6 m



> ----------
> From: 	Craig Simmons[SMTP:csimmo@ozemail.com.au]
> Sent: 	Friday, October 24, 1997 10:33 AM
> To: 	SeeSat-L
> Subject: 	Re: Iridium 21 (97-34E, #24873) -- NO FLARE!
> 
> I can also confirm no flare from Iridium 21. On the evening of the
> 23rd, Rob
> Matson's program predicted a mag 0.4 for IRDM21 and a mag -3.5 for
> IRDM15. 
> 
> Iridium 15 was magnificent, but nothing was seen at all from Iridium
> 21.
> 
> Thanks
> Craig Simmons
> 
> Sydney Australia. 
> 
> 
> 
> At 21:07 23/10/97 -0400, you wrote:
> >Warning!  Some of the current Iridiums apparently are not
> >reliable flare/glint/flash producers.
> >
> >We had a prediction for a -1 flare from Iridium 21 (97-34E, 
> >#24873) tonight in central Austin, and Mike McCants and 
> >
>