Tracked this down after a little hunting: STS-96 elements are included in http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ftp/news/1999/spc0524.txt Robert. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Thomas Fly" <thomasfly@j2ee-consultants.com> To: "SeeSat-L" <SeeSat-L@satobs.org> Sent: Tuesday, April 20, 2004 6:02 AM Subject: ISS rendezvous orbit for Soyuz > Kevin got a reply back from MCC saying they don't release TLEs for Soyuz (though > OIG may). > > Assuming OIG doesn't- at least not in a timely manner- this seems like an > opportunity for the SeeSat folks. > > Since changing a plane of orbit is expensive (except for the "free" precession > of orbital plane provided by the earth's equatorial bulge), it would seem that > Soyuz must launch into approximately the same orbital plane as the ISS... at the > time of rendezvous, the orbital planes must coincide (if Soyuz is initially in > an elliptical orbit, with a shorter orbital period than the ISS, then its > orbital plane should precess a bit faster than that of the ISS). > > It seems to me that initially you'd want to go into an elliptical orbit, having > an apogee about the same as the ISS. The orbital period would be such that, > between launch & rendezvous, Soyuz would catch up with the ISS- obviously, some > substantial rocket firing must be necessary to get Soyuz into the same orbit as > the ISS, not long before rendezvous (i.e., basically circularizing its orbit). > > The MCC has released TLEs for shuttle flights to the ISS, which should shed some > light on how rendezvous is accomplished- one would think that Soyuz & the > shuttles would do it basically in the same way. Does anybody have the TLE > ephemeris for a past shuttle to ISS mission? > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Subscribe/Unsubscribe info, Frequently Asked Questions, SeeSat-L archive: > http://www.satobs.org/seesat/seesatindex.html > ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe/Unsubscribe info, Frequently Asked Questions, SeeSat-L archive: http://www.satobs.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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