--- Ted Molczan <ssl3molcz@rogers.com> wrote: > DMSP F18 is scheduled for launch on 2009 Oct 18, > between 16:12 UTC and 16:22 UTC, from Vandenberg > AFB, aboard an Atlas 5-401 rocket. > > The launch vehicle's performance far exceeds mission > requirements; so much so, that its Centaur stage will > be disposed of in an unusual manner: a heliocentric > orbit. That burn will be visible from parts of Europe > about 3 h after launch, followed within minutes by the > dump of any remaining propellant. > > Assuming launch at the start of the window, DMSP F18 > will enter approximately the following orbit: > > DMSP F18 > 838 X 853 km > 1 72900U 09291.72202813 .00000000 00000-0 00000-0 0 07 > 2 72900 98.8000 325.8000 0010000 270.0000 90.0000 14.13250000 08 > > On the first pass of Europe, beginning near 17:30 UTC, > the Centaur is likely to lead the DMSP by several > seconds in time. Just observed this pass. Two objects were seen, a bright leading one (mag 2.0) and a faint trailing one (mag 5-6), the latter at a higher elevation. Maximum separation was about 0.4 deg. Patrick Schmeer Saarbruecken, Germany 49.2144N, 7.0617E, 293 m ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe/Unsubscribe info, Frequently Asked Questions, SeeSat-L archive: http://www.satobs.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Sun Oct 18 2009 - 17:58:09 UTC