OSCAR-13 re-entry

Dave Mullenix (djmullen@facstaff.wisc.edu)
Tue, 05 Dec 1995 20:27:56 -0600

>Hello Dave,
>
>>James says it will re-enter at night, so perhaps somebody will get to
>>see the fireball.
>
>Since the earth is 60% sunlight and twilight, I would like to wager
>that it won't reenter "at night".  :-)?

I'll be happy to cover that bit, but only up to the amount you can afford to
lose.  I think G3RUH says it will re-enter on the night side because the
orbit will still be quite elliptical when it finally re-enters.  Since the
apogee side of the ellipse will be pointed at the sun next December,
the perigee side will be on the night side of the planet.  I think it's 
safe to assume that the last orbit will finish with a perigee that turns 
into a fireball.

By the way, I forgot to mention that G3RUH will be posting new, updated
keps very frequently as the orbit starts to decay.  That and the near
guaranteed night time reentry makes this a good one to watch for.
The satellite is a meter or two across and weighs a hundred kilos
or so.

ftp.amsat.org/amsat/satinfo/ao13/decaykep.zip

Dave, N9LTD