Gene Heyler posted: >Launch window opens at 6:56:14 UT 1-July-2002. >Orbit epoch below is 8:00:49 UT 1-July-2002, near 1st ascending node. > >1 99999U 2182.33390046 .00000000 00000-0 00000-0 0 10 >2 99999 29.6995 194.2082 8942378 335.3240 0.25 0.57887000 12 Output for Austin, Tx (times are CDT): 30.314 97.866 Bee Caves Rsrch Ctr 2002 Jul 1 Mon morning Times are CDT Contour IM 4.0 U MAG HGT ALT AZI HRS MIN RANGE 66 9.9 3734 17 279 3 25 5559 (miles) 73 9.6 4683 28 278 3 30 6034 78 9.6 5619 37 278 3 35 6644 83 9.7 6536 44 278 3 40 7336 87 9.9 7431 50 277 3 45 8074 90 10.1 8304 54 276 3 50 8834 93 10.2 9155 57 276 3 55 9604 96 10.4 9985 60 275 4 0 0373 100 10.7 11585 64 273 4 10 1895 105 11.0 13850 67 270 4 25 4104 111 11.5 17322 68 267 4 50 7560 116 12.0 21087 66 264 5 20 1367 This prediction is just after the boost into the eccentric orbit. Visibility is more favorable for the West Coast, less favorable for the East Coast. My guess is intrinsic magnitude 4.0 (full phase). But... Contour is a 2 meter by 2 meter octagon. Normal cruise mode is spin stabilized. It's mostly black, so it may be very faint unless one of the flat sides reflects sunlight properly. So maybe it will be flashing to magnitude 8 or 9 every 5 or 10 seconds and invisible the rest of the time. There ought to be a booster rocket nearby? But it will be even fainter at IM 5.0 or 5.5? Mike McCants ----------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe from SeeSat-L by sending a message with 'unsubscribe' in the SUBJECT to SeeSat-L-request@lists.satellite.eu.org http://www.satellite.eu.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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