Re: What is the real NOSS trio?
Ed Cannon (ecannon@mail.utexas.edu)
Sat, 24 Oct 1998 04:11:29 -0400
J. Lee Blanton (blanton@pe.net) asked, on Fri, 23 Oct 1998, at
about 12:40:22 -0700:
> Please pardon a basic question. I downloaded a large file of
> two-line elements which contains about 35 objects with a NOSS
> designation. On this mailing list I have seen references to
> NOSS 2-1 and NOSS 2-3. What is the real NOSS trio? Is there
> more than one? Also, what is its typical magnitude? Thanks
> in advance.
The speculations are that there are two types, older and faint,
and newer and not-as-faint. Most of the references on SeeSat
are to the newer ones, which are called NOSS 2-1, 2-2, and 2-3.
Very generally they are binocular objects around magnitude +5
on an okay pass and maybe +4.5 on a good pass. A few times
they've been reported to flare much more brightly. One time I
saw one of these trios at one-power; I could not see three
separate objects, but I saw moving light well enough to point
my binoculars right at them, so together they must have been
about +3.5. It was an evening pass low in the east -- very
good phase angle; my recollection is that they were northbound.
Here's my understanding of the IDs of the three newer trios:
NORAD, COSPAR, Common Name -- OIG SSR Name
----- ------ ------------ ------------
20682, 90050B, NOSS 2-1 (B) -- USA 60
20691, 90050C, NOSS 2-1 (C) -- USA 61
20692, 90050D, NOSS 2-1 (D) -- USA 62
21799, 91076C, NOSS 2-2 (C) -- USA 74
21808, 91076D, NOSS 2-2 (D) -- USA 76
21809, 91076E, NOSS 2-2 (E) -- USA 77
23862, 96029D, NOSS 2-3 (D) -- USA 122
23908, 96029C, NOSS 2-3 (C) -- USA 121
23936, 96029E, NOSS 2-3 (E) -- USA 123
I'm not sure of the ID or status of the next two, which OIG
says are rockets:
20642, 90050E, NOSS 2-1 (E) -- Titan 4 R/B
21776, 90076B, ____________ -- Titan 4 R/B
This next one is a large, tumbling object, almost certainly
a Titan 4. I don't know why OIG calls it "USA 120".
23907, 96029B, NOSS 2-3 Rk -- USA 120
Here's a Web site that mentions both NOSS types:
http://www.tbs-satellite.com/tse/online/prog_noss.html
This site deals with the old, hard-to-see ones:
http://www.fas.org/spp/military/program/surveill/noss.htm
These sites deal with the new, not-as-hard-to-see ones:
http://www.fas.org/spp/military/program/surveill/sbwass_n.htm
http://solar.rtd.utk.edu/~mwade/craft/noss2.htm
Ed Cannon - ecannon@mail.utexas.edu - Austin, Texas, USA