Re: [amsat-bb] GSFC keps: Names/cat num/inter. ID

[Jim White <jim@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

The booster *should* have kicked some out to the sides, top/bottom, and
Falconsat out to the front (along the velocity vector).  We are pretty sure
from spin rate Falconsat got spun up to about 1 RPM by the booster as
planned, which may or may not imply all the other booster maneuvers worked
as programmed (never know, because apparently that TLM was lost).  We don't
think Falconsat is the lead object, but I would be surprised if that object
was the 4th stage.  The optical guys at Starfire no doubt know exactly
which one their balloon is.  After that all bets are off till they separate
far enough to differentiate on AOS times.
jw
jim@coloradosatellite.com
Living in the ground station at USAFA on cold hoagies, chips, and diet Pepsi.

At 06:11 PM 2/2/00 GMT, you wrote:
>Gang
>
>The separation between the objects is only just about visible by means of
>tracking (remember: with relatively wide beamwidth antennas plus
propagation).
>
>Taking Randy's last set of elements we first have to calculate to give the
>figures for the same ascending node (thats the northbound equator crossing
>for the uninitiated). NB I'm just using the "names" for reference; there's
>no guarantee that these elements actually *are* for the item with that name.
>I've kept the decimals to three places; not in college now and it will be
>near enough to spot the trend.
>
>Using Mean Motion, we get the following periods (in minutes:seconds)
>
>object       Mean        Period      Period
>name        Motion       seconds     minutes
>JAWSAT    14.34302199   6023.835   100:23.835
>OCS       14.34191568   6024.300   100:24.300
>OPAL      14.34143453   6024.501   100:24.501
>FALCONSAT 14.33909659   6025.484   100:25.484
>ASUSAT    14.34064717   6024.833   100:24.833
>MINOTAUR  14.34857612   6021.503   100:21.503
>
>Randy's element set gave the following ascending nodes:
> sat          epoc        time utc    seconds since midnight
>JAWSAT   00032.89236850   21:25:00.6        77100.6
>OCS      00032.47480290   11:23:42.97       41022.97
>OPAL     00032.89341112   21:26:30.7        77190.7
>FALCONS  00032.05659032   01:21:29.4         4889.4
>ASUSAT   00032.82355078   19:45:54.8        71154.8
>MINOTAUR 00032.05334482   01:16:48.99        4608.99
>
>Add or subtract (orbits x period) to hit the same orbit number (say 11:20
utc)
>and we get the following ascending node times:
>JAWSAT   11:22:37.59     40957.59    2 (order in which the convoy)
>OCS      11:23:42.97     41022.97    3    (passed the equator)
>OPAL     11:24:03.69     41043.69    6
>FALCONS  11:24:02.30     41042.30    5
>ASUSAT   11:23:50.64     41030.64    4
>MINOTAUR 11:18:58.01     40738.01    1
>
>Not counting the (dead) booster, we have an 86 second difference between
>the first and the last. These babies are splitting up fast, the spread was
>about 20-30 seconds after a couple of days. We can also see that the booster
>fired the birds backwards and the reason its out in front is that it got 
>five kicks from the separations. 
>
>Someone has the order of deployment; perhaps they could compare it with
>the reported names of these objects and see if it matches up. Theres also
>some dependency on the strength of the separation springs.
>
>73
>Richard W L Limebear G3RWL
>g3rwl@amsat.org
>FOC # 1188
>
>          So many beautiful girls ..... (sob) so little time
>----
>Via the amsat-bb mailing list at AMSAT.ORG courtesy of AMSAT-NA.
>To unsubscribe, send "unsubscribe amsat-bb" to Majordomo@amsat.org
>
>
----
Via the amsat-bb mailing list at AMSAT.ORG courtesy of AMSAT-NA.
To unsubscribe, send "unsubscribe amsat-bb" to Majordomo@amsat.org