TeamNathanFTW’s New and Improved Blog : September 1999

Tuesday, September 28, 1999

1988-074A

The last of the four stacked Oscar launches, SOOS 4, included O-25 (NNS 30250).

Date	Time	Event	Orbit

NNS O-25



1988 Aug 25	0659	Launch by Scout	V SLC5
		T+1:18 St 1 burnout	-6318 x 83 x 74.9
		T+1:18 St 2 burn
		T+1:59 St 2 burnout
		T+2:03 Heatshield sep	-5951 x 298 x 85.7
		T+2:05 Stage 3 burn
		T+3:53 Stage 3 burnout
	0711?	T+12:35? Stage 3 sep
	0711?	T+12:40 Stage 4 burn	-4601 x 1039 x 88.8
	0712	T+13:14 Stage 4 burnout
	0713?	SOOS sep from Stage 4
	0713?	Despin?
	0714?	SOOS upper sep from lower
			107.46 1034 x 1185 x 90.0
			107.42 1035 x 1180 x 90.0
1988 Sep 3	1818	To maintenance freq, storage
1990 Feb 9	1753	Activated for tests
1990 Feb 14	1755	Placed back in storage
1992 Dec 11	2038	Placed in service
1993 May 18	2308	In storage
1994 May 4	1537	In service
1998 Jan		Still transmitting

Saturday, September 18, 1999

MARECS 1

1981-122A

The MARECS program used the British Aerospace OTS/ECS comsat bus as a basis for a maritime communications satellite platform. MARECS A, known as MARECS 1 after launch, was launched in Dec 1981 on the fourth Ariane test flight.

Date	Time	Event	Orbit

MARECS 1



1981 Dec 20	0129:00	Launch by Ariane LO4	CSG ELA1
		T+2:27 St 1 MECO
		T+2:32 St 1 sep
		T+2:32 L33 burn
		T+4:13 Fairing
		T+4:47 St 2 MECO
		T+4:57 St 2 sep at 136 km
		T+4:58 HM7 burn 9:11
	0143:09	T+14:09 HM7 MECO
		T+15:20 spinup
	0144:40	T+15:40 MARECS/CAT sep
	0145	T+16m MARECS sep from CAT
1981 Dec 21			631.94 219 x 35811 x 10.5
1981 Dec 21	1413:19	Star 30 AKM 20s burn
	1413:39	AKM burnout	GEO 33.5W dr
1981 Dec 23			1430.72 35619 x 35742 x 2.3 GEO 33.7W+1.3E
1982 Jan 2		on station	GEO 26W
1982 Feb 10			1436.04 35774 x 35796 x 2.2 GEO 26.0W
1982 Mar		INMARSAT Atlantic Primary, start ops
1982 Jun			GEO 26W
1985 Apr 26			1436.09 35773 x 35799 x 0.8 GEO 25.9W
1986 Mar 3			1436.07 35771 x 35801 x 0.4 GEO 26.0W
1986 Mar 5		mv out	1424.16 35536 x 35568 x 0.4 GEO 24.8W+3.0E
1986 Mar 10		Drift W, replaced by MARECS 2
1986 May 12			1436.15 35764 x 35811 x 0.5 GEO 178.0E
1986 Jun 9		POR Spare	GEO 178E
1986 Oct 8			GEO 178E
1988 Jun 10			1436.12 35771 x 35802 x 2.3 GEO 177.8E
1990 Aug 3			1436.08 35771 x 35801 x 4.2 GEO 178.0E
1991 Mar 25		Solar panel failure due to ESD
1991 May 23			1436.09 35777 x 35795 x 4.2 GEO 178.0E
1991 Jun		removed from active service
1991 Jun		Replaced by MCS-D
1991 Aug 29			1436.21 35772 x 35804 x 4.5 GEO 20.3E
1991 Sep 30			1436.02 35769 x 35800 x 4.5 GEO 20.1E
1992 Feb 9		move to 22E	1435.85 35769 x 35794 x 4.8 GEO 21.2E
1992 Mar 3		mv in	1435.74 35731 x 35827 x 4.9 GEO 22.5E
1994 Feb 24			1436.07 35773 x 35798 x 6.4 GEO 22.4E
1996 Aug 16			1436.01 35728 x 35841 x 8.0 GEO 22.6E

USA-122

1996-029D

USA 122 was launched into a 63 degree orbit by a Titan 4 in May 1996. Observers found the rocket body in a 312 x 622 km x 63.4 deg orbit, and later the triplet payloads were found in an 1150 km orbit. The SLDCOM ended up in a 2650 x 11600 km orbit.

Date	Time	Event	Orbit

USA 122



1996 May 12	2132	Launch by Titan 403	V SLC4E
	2134?	T+2:00 St 1 MES
	2134?	T+2:04 SRM sep
	2135?	T+3:59 Fairing sep
	2137?	T+5:09 St 2 MES
	2137?	T+5:10 St 1 sep
	2140?	T+8:50 St 2 MECO
	2141?	T+9m? Titan 4 stage 2 sep
		Stage 2 sep	312 x 622 x 63.4 (CSS)
			93.7 284 x 635 x 63.4 (UN)
	2324?	TLD burn 1	300 x 1100?
1996 May 13	0012?	TLD burn 2	1050 x 1150?
1996 Jun 20	0739	Deploy TIPS from host
1996 Jun 24?		Orbit raise burn
1998 Jan 23			260.47 2653 x 11611 x 63.47

Vanguard 3

1959-007

The final Vanguard payload was the Magne-Ray satellite, a combined X-ray, meteoritic and magnetic field research satellite. The sphere was partly fiberglass and partly magnesium. It was the payload for TV4BU which for this last Vanguard flight carried a new third stage, the ABL X-248-A2, later known as Altair. The X-248 was similar to GCR's stage, but with a fiberglass casing instead of steel. It had the designation 38-DS-3100 and serial number SV-59. The new third stage increased payload mass by 13 kg, or velocity by 0.9 km/s for the standard payload mass. TV-4BU was informally called SLV-7, and the '7' was painted on the vehicle. Altair would become widely used on Scout and Delta. After a successful launch on 1959 Sep 18, the Magne-Ray payload became Vanguard III.

Date	Time	Event	Orbit

Vanguard 3



1959 Sep 18	0520:07	Launch by Vanguard SLV-7	CC LC18A
	0522:32	T+2:25 Stage 1 sep
	0522:59	T+2:52 Fairing sep
	0524:30	T+4:22 Stage 2 burnout
	0528:59	T+8:51 Stage 2 sep	-5325 x 505 x 33
	0529:13	T+9:06 Stage 3 burn
	0529:25	T+9:18 St 2 apogee 3.92 km/s, 505 km
	0529:49	T+9:42 Stage 3 cutoff DV=4.39 km/s	512 x 3744 x 33
		Stage 2 impact 18 12N 56 45W
1959 Dec 12		End of transmissions

Payload:

Magnetometer
Solar x-ray detector

Friday, September 17, 1999

USA-53

1990-019B

The AFP-731 satellite deployed by the Shuttle into a 65 degree orbit in Feb 1990 on mission STS-36 is believed to be a specialized imaging satellite. It's not clear whether it is related to the Improved CRYSTAL satellites. The satellite is reportedly called MISTY and was intended to be a low-observable `stealth' platform - but it was soon spotted by amateur observers.

The satellite was observed in a 257 x 270 km orbit at magnitude -1. On Mar 7 five debris objects, 1990-19C to G, were cataloged; although no orbital data were released, DoD reported that the objects would decay in a few months, and in July confirmed that they had done so. There were rumours that the fragments were an attempt to disguise a maneuver by the satellite. The main object was rediscovered, 3.5 mag fainter, by Russell Eberst and other observers on Oct 16, in an 800 km orbit. Working back the orbital precession confirmed that the new sighting was consistent with USA 53. The satellite was lost again in Nov 1990, just after a small orbital adjustment which may have been the precursor to a larger maneuver. It is believed the satellite may still be in a similar orbit.

Date	Time	Event	Orbit

AFP-731



1990 Feb 28	0750	Launch by Shuttle	KSC LC39A
1990 Mar 1	1845?	Deployed from OV-104	89.44 240 x 253 x 62.0
1990 Mar 3		Small orbit correction	89.78 257 x 270 x 62.0?
1990 Mar 7		5 debris objects cataloged
1990 Mar 19		one frag. decayed over Pacific
1990 Mar 20?		2nd frag. down
1990 Apr-May		Remaining frags continue to decay
1990 Jul 24		DoD confirms all frag decayed
1990 Oct 16		Rediscovered by Eberst et al	100.96 800 x 808 x 64.99
1990 Oct 27			100.96 800 x 807 x 65.00
1990 Nov 2 ?		small orbit raise
1990 Nov 5			100.96 797 x 811 x 65.02
1990 Nov		Orbit changed?

Thursday, September 16, 1999

Nadezhda 3

1994-041A

The third named Nadezhda satellite was launched on 1994 Jul 14.

Date	Time	Event	Orbit

Nadezhda 3



1994 Jul 14	0513:30	Launch by Kosmos-3M	PL LC133
		T+2:10 St 1 MECO
		T+2:12 St 1 sep
	0515	T+2:12 St 2 burn 59km
	0515	T+2:27 Fairing 76km
	0521	T+8:03 St 2 MECO 150 km	150 x 1003? x 83
	0615	T+1:02:19 St 2 MES2
	0615	T+1:02:30 St 2 MECO2
	0616?	T+1:02:50 St 2 sep
1998 Jul		KOSPAS-7 decommissioned

Sunday, September 12, 1999

Kosmos 361

1970-071A

Zenit-4M flight number 6 was launched three and a half hours after the landing of the fifth flight, the first time Zenit-4M missions were flown close together.

Date	Time	Event	Orbit

Kosmos-361



1970 Sep 8	1030:00	Launch by 11A57	PL
	1034	Blok-I burn
	1038	Blok-I sep
	1746		89.54 204 x 298 x 72.9
1970 Sep 9	0200		89.99 209 x 298 x 72.9
1970 Sep 11	1725		89.51 203 x 296 x 72.9
1970 Sep 12	2020	Orbit raise	90.04 230 x 322 x 72.9
1970 Sep 13	0500		90.09 203 x 353 x 72.9 (RAE)
1970 Sep 16	0956		90.03 202 x 349 x 72.9
1970 Sep 20	0500?	Engine sep
1970 Sep 20	1429		89.98 200 x 347 x 72.9
1970 Sep 21	0524?	Retrofire
	0534?	PO sep
	0541?	Entry
	0554?	Landed after 12.8d

TeamNathanFTW’s New and Improved Blog