Mike McCants <mikem@fc.net> said: >Yes, of the really high objects, most are lost, but the following >5 remain: > >1 13901U 83020A 97073.26759740 -.00002521 00000-0 00000+0 0 7610 >2 13901 44.6340 16.4330 8621978 323.9560 26.0900 0.24286200 2084 > >1 14069U 83041C 97059.79946914 -.00000175 00000-0 10000-3 0 7733 >2 14069 14.6030 44.2924 1682813 232.6849 110.8604 0.84341462 8846 > >1 20413U 83020D 97071.56690600 -.00002293 00000-0 00000+0 0 9614 >2 20413 40.4400 22.3730 8757140 318.3160 335.3250 0.24727000 2099 > >1 23414U 94079B 97069.32196990 -.00000386 00000-0 00000+0 0 1879 >2 23414 29.5800 346.9640 8907593 271.3370 11.7880 0.50008300 5833 > >1 23632U 95039A 97072.95002340 -.00000242 00000-0 00000+0 0 1204 >2 23632 70.8580 248.0170 7561561 327.9680 42.3720 0.26415200 1564 The background behind these particular objects is interesting. 83 20A and 95 39A are Russian scientific satellites in very high orbits, and 83 20D would be the upper stage (Proton?) of the 83 20A launch. 94 79B is the Centaur upper stage from the Orion 1 launch which was put in to a very high altitude ellipitcal orbit. (I think there are one or two additional Centaurs with very high apogees). 83 41C is the one which puzzles me. This is a GOES geosynchronous weather satellite launch on a Delta 3914 launch vehicle. The A object is the satellite which is still in geosynchronous orbit, but with a fairly high inclination. The B object is the second stage which has almost certainly reentered by now. The C object is the third stage. On a 3914 model it's a TE-334 (or something like that) solid motor which is spin stabilized. The satellite itself is one of the early Hughes spin stabilized weather satellite busses. So why should 83 41C be in such an extraordinarily high orbit? Quick and dirty calculations - 32978.210 km perigee 48904.061 km apogee Both well above geosynchronous altitude. Was this an unusual launch profile which was used to test out ways of saving propellant? (doubt it because no techniques like this were used for quite some time) Did the stage 'drift' upward due to lunar-solar pertubations? And if so - why only this stage and no other Delta 3914 upper stages? I'm curious ... Philip Chien [M1959.05.31/31.145//KC4YER@amsat.org]