The Observer’s Year : 366 Nights of the Universe

 https://welib.org/md5/9828f44f2eb83f0e4703fc434679620d

Fortune: September 18,2000

 https://welib.org/md5/6f8fc4c7efd00b2ab3f6dd537d8d67ee

Shenzhou 1

 1999-061A

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\imps{2.5}{images/99061A}

\imps{2.5}{images/99061Aorb}

The first automated test flight of SZ was in Nov 1999. The CZ-2F placed SZ in orbit together with two pieces of debris. The RV was recovered after a 21 hour flight in Inner Mongolia, a few hundred km E of JQ.

\imps{2.5}{images/99061Arv}

Estimated mass according to 1999 reports: 8400 kg (2700 kg SM, 4000 kg RV, 1700 kg OM). Size 10.0l 3.2d (2.9l 2.8d, 2.8l 2.8d, 4.3l 2.8d). The OM reentered Dec 1.

According to a SZ-3 report in 2002, mass is 7800 kg, and the orbital module is 2.8l 2.25d with 2 solar arrays, the RV is 2.06l 2.5d. SM is 2.94l 2.8d with two solar arrays. This makes it closely similar to Soyuz. The OM probably has a mass around 2000 kg.

The SZ-1 carried biology experiments including 10 plants. SZ-1 was originally the ground electrical test model, and its OM did not have working solar panels or life support system.

Object	SSN	Orbit	Status
1999-61A	25956		r Nov 20
1999-61B	25957	197 x 326	d Nov 28?
1999-61C	25958	186 x 458	d Nov 21
1999-61D	25959	194 x 508	d Nov 22 1300?
1999-61E	25960	205 x 332	d Dec 1

Shenzhou
Date	Time	Event	Orbit
1999 Nov 19	2230	Launch by CZ-2F	JQ
		T+2:16 SRM burnout, sep
		T+2:38 St 1 MECO
		T+2:39 St 1 sep, St 2 burn
		T+3:20? Fairing sep
		T+7:41 St 2 MECO
	2239	T+9:43 Stage 2 VECO
	2239	T+9:43 Stage 2 sep
1999 Nov 20			197 x 323 x 42.6
	1840??	Orbital module sep
	1850?	Deorbit burn over 35.2S 9.4W
	1941	Landed in Inner Mongolia

Soyuz TM-20

 1994-063A

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Spacecraft 11K732 No. 69 was assigned to the Soyuz TM-20 mission. Soyuz TM-20 lifted off from pad 1 at Baykonur at 2242:30 UT on 1994 Oct 3 carrying the Mir EO-17 crew. Crew commander was Aleksandr S. Viktorenko of the VVS, making his fourth spaceflight. Flight engineer was Elena V. Kondakova of NPO Energiya. Kondakova was a member of the 1989 group of engineers, and the first woman to be selected for a Russian space mission as a regular crew member (the flights of Tereshkova and Savitskaya being explicit tokenism). The third crew member was Dr. Ulf Merbold of the European Space Agency, representing the Euromir 94 project.

Soyuz TM-20 docked with the PKhO front port of the Mir station at 0028:17 on 1994 Oct 6.

On Jan 11, the Mir crew boarded Soyuz and undocked for a test flight to check out the automatic docking system.

The EO-17 crew, together with Polyakov, entered Soyuz TM-20 for the last time on 1995 Mar 21. Undocking and deorbit were nominal, and Polyakov's 437-day odyssey came to an end 22 km northeast of Arkalyk in Kazakhstan at 0404 on Mar 22.

Soyuz TM-20
Date	Time	Event	Orbit
1994 Oct 3	2242:20	Launch by Soyuz-U2
1994 Oct 6	0028:15	Docked PKhO, manual
1995 Jan 11	0859:40	Undocked PKhO
		Stationkeep at 200m?
	0927:55	Redocked PKhO
1995 Mar 21	2200?	Hatch closed
1995 Mar 22	0043:08	Undocking
1995 Mar 22	0308:14	Deorbit burn 259s, 115m/s
	0337	Modules sep, over Egypt
	0340	Reentry, over Cyprus
	0351	Main parachute
	0404:05	Landed

STS-1 (Columbia)

 1981-034A

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OV-102 was launched on mission STS-1 at 1200:04 UT on 1981 Apr 12 from pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center. The SRBs separated at 1202:15, and by 1202:44 the Shuttle stack was at 72 km altitude. By 1206:00 the Shuttle was at 141 km and began to dive back toward Earth, picking up speed. The SSMEs throttled back at 1207:34 as the altitude dropped to 124 km. At 1208:38 came MECO (Main Engine Cutoff), with Columbia now in orbit, with international designation 1981-34A. The initial orbit was only 24 x 140 km x 40 deg. The External Tank separated at 1208:56 and at 1209:11 the RCS jets were fired to clear Columbia from its path. The crucial OMS engines were fired for the first time at 1210:38 for the 86s long OMS 1 burn, shutdown of which at 1212:08 left Columbia in a 105.6 x 244.6 km x 40.3 deg orbit. The Auxiliary Power Units were shut down and the ET umbilical doors were closed. At 1244:06 the 75s long OMS 2 burn circularized the orbit. At 1331 the process of opening the payload bay doors began; this was completed at 1352. The radiators inside the doors were deployed at 1420 UT.

On orbit tests now began, with a single left hand engine OMS burn, the 30s OMS 3, at 1820:49 raising the orbit to 244 x 273 km, and a right hand engine 33s OMS 4 burn at 1905:35 putting it in a 266 x 272 km orbit. Three test burns of the RCS were made, the third at 1213 on Apr 13. The payload bay doors were successfully closed at 1448 on Apr 13, and opened again at 1647. This was followed by further RCS tests. At 1430 on Apr 14, the doors were once again closed and latched, and at 1721 the OMS engines began the 155s deorbit burn, from a final orbit of 259 x 271 km. Entry interface at 120 km altitude came at 1750 UT on Apr 14. Reentry mass was 89930 kg. Reentry and hypersonic winged flight was flawless with main gear touchdown on runway 23 at Edwards AFB at 1820:51. The nose gear touched down at 1821:11 and Columbia rolled out to a triumphant wheels stop at 1821:57.

STS-1
Date	Time	Event	Orbit
1980 Nov 24		STS-1 rollover to VAB/3
1980 Dec 22		ET mate
1980 Dec 29	1300	Rollout	LC39A
1981 Feb 20	1345	FRF	LC39A
1981 Apr 12	1200:04	Launch	LC39A
	1202:15	SRB sep	-6280 x 83 x 40
	1208:38	MECO
	1208:56	ET sep	24 x 148 x 40.4 (MOR)
			86.30 31 x 149 x 40.4 (dV)
	1210:38	OMS 1 86s 50.1m/s	105 x 241 x 40.4 (MOR)
			87.97 109 x 238 x 40.4 (dV)
	1221	ET apogee
	1244:06	OMS 2 75s 41.7m/s
	1244:44	ET at 91.4 km
	1247	ET breakup
		ET impact at 88.20E 28.40S
	1331	PLBD open	89.39 238 x 250 x 40.35
	1621		89.35 238 x 246 x 40.35
	1820:49	OMS 3 (LH, 30s) 7.8m/s	244 x 273
	1905:35	OMS 4 (RH 33s) 9.0m/s	89.92 267 x 273 x 40.3
1981 Apr 13	0418		89.89 266 x 271 x 40.3
	1213	RCS
	1448	PLBD closed
	1647	PLBD open	89.88 265 x 271 x 40.3
1981 Apr 14	1430	PLBD closed	89.83 260 x 272 x 40.3
	1721:34	OMS DO (155s) 90.7m/s
	1724:09	OMS DO CO
			7 x 273 x 44.2 (CR-3561)
			4 x 276 x 40.3 (MOR)
	1750	Entry
	1820:51	Landing	RW23 EAFB
	1821:11	NGTD
	1821:57	Wheels stop
1981 Apr 27	1716	SCA ferry	EAFB to Tinker AFB, OK
1981 Apr 28	1159	SCA ferry	Tinker to KSC SLF
	1500	SCA arr KSC
1981 Apr 29	1535	OPF/1

Kosmos 596

  1973-070A

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Kosmos-596 was recovered 7 days after launch from Plesetsk in Oct 1973, just after the outbreak of the Yom Kippur war. The Kettering group detected a TG recovery beacon. The satellite carried an FEU-170 capsule which Energiya reports was recovered on Oct 8.

Kosmos-596
Date	Time	Event	Orbit
1973 Oct 3	1300:00	Launch by 11A57	PL
	1304	Blok-I burn
	1308	Blok-I sep
	1900		89.42 206 x 287 x 65.41 (RAE)
	2012		89.42 205 x 286 x 65.4
1973 Oct 5	2123		89.39 205 x 283 x 65.4
1973 Oct 8	2352		89.29 206 x 272 x 65.4
1973 Oct 8		Capsule sep	89.25 203 x 273 x 65.40 (RAE)
	0730?	FEU-170 deorbit
	0735?	TDU sep
	0740?	Entry
	0755?	Landed
1973 Oct 10	0714?	Retrofire
	0724?	PO sep
	0730?	Entry	-188 x 234 x 65.41
	0745?	Landed after 6.8d

STS-94 (Columbia)

 1997-032A

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After the aborted STS-83 mission, NASA quickly moved to refly the MSL payload. For a while the reflight was designated STS-83R, but on Apr 25 it was officially named STS-94 (missions STS-84 to STS-93 were far enough along in the planning process that it would have been undesirable to rewrite all their documentation with new numbers). The STS-94/MSL-1R mission had the same payload and the same crew as STS-83/MSL-1. After minimal reprocessing of the payload it was rolled back to the pad on 1997 Jun 11, and on Jul 1 it beat approaching thunderstorms and roared to orbit on the first countdown try.

STS-94
Date	Time	Event	Orbit
1997 Jun 4	1620	Roll from OPF to VAB Bay 1
1997 Jun 5		Mate to ET
1997 Jun 11	0645	Roll to LC39A
1997 Jul 1	1802:00	Launch	KSC LC39A
	1804:03	SRB sep
	1810:30	MECO	69? x 303 x 28.5
	1810:48	ET sep
	1841:52	OMS 2 142.8s 67.6 m/s
	1844:16	OMS 2 CO
	1938:44	PLBD open	90.56 300 x 303 x 28.5
1997 Jul 2			90.56 299 x 304 x 28.47
1997 Jul 3			90.55 299 x 303 x 28.5
1997 Jul 17	0702:15	PLBD closed	90.47 295 x 299 x 28.5
	0943:45	OMS DO 3:00 91.0m/s
	0946:46	OMS DO complete	-10 x 299 x 28.5
	1014:39	Entry interface
	1046:34	MGTD RW33 KSC
	1046:45	NGTD
	1047:29	Wheels stop

Hexagon 6

  1973-046A

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KH-9 mission 6 was launched in Jul 1973 and lasted until October, when it may have returned intelligence related to the Yom Kippur war.

The first available element set is 2 days after launch. The orbit was maintained in the standard 155 x 270 km regime until Sep 30, when the perigee was raised. The satellite was in a 200-220 x 230 km circular orbit until deorbit on Oct 12.

HEXAGON 6
Date	Time	Event	Orbit
1973 Jul 13	2022	Launch by Titan IIID	V SLC4E
		T+1:49? Stage 1 burn 2:27
		T+1:55 SRM burnout
		T+1:55 SRM sep
		T+4:16 Stage 1 MECO
		T+4:16 Stage 1 sep
		T+4:16 Stage 2 burn
		T+5:05? Fairing
	2029	T+7:44? Stage 2 MECO
	2030	T+8:00 Stage 2 sep
			88.8 156 x 269 x 96.2
1973 Jul 29			88.65 154 x 261 x 96.2
1973 Aug 1	2306?	SRV-1 MAR rev 310
1973 Aug 11			88.72 156 x 265 x 96.2
1973 Aug 13	2340?	SRV-2 MAR rev 505
1973 Aug 15		op 122
1973 Aug 15		Last mapping image in continuous sequence, 121
1973 Aug 23		Last mapping image, op 151
1973 Aug 23			88.70 155 x 265 x 96.2
1973 Aug 24	2258?	SRV-5 deorbit?
	2330?	SRV 1206-5 recovered after 44d
1973 Aug 29		DB-8 turned off
1973 Sep 8	2234?	SRV-3 deorbit, MAR rev 926
1973 Sep 18			88.80 158 x 272 x 96.2
1973 Sep 25		SRV-4 MAR rev 1202
1973 Sep 29			88.60 176 x 233 x 96.2
1973 Sep 30	1900?	Orbit raise	89.10 224 x 235 x 96.2
1973 Oct 7			88.76 208 x 218 x 96.2
1973 Oct 11	0707		88.89 204 x 234 x 96.1
1973 Oct 12	0010?	Reentered after 91d
		Deboost rev 1471, day 92
		VASP 2 reentry experiment over Eniwetok
		S+12:55:27 101 km, loss of attitude control
		S+12:55:57 Solar panels fold, 95 km
		S+12:56:07 Loss of signal 93 km
		S+12:56:20 Breakup begins
		S+12:57:25 Vehicle breakup 78 km
	1258	S+12:58:15 67 km
	1302	S+13:02:00 Debris impacts Eniwetok Lagoon at circa 11.4N 162.2E

Simsat-1

 2000-026A

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The first 14A05 Rokot launch from Plesetsk uses the Briz-KM upper stage. Launch was by Eurockot Launch Services GmbH owned by Astrium GmbH and Khrunichev. The satellite was designated 813IP/003 and registered with the UN as IKA-1.

IKA-1
Date	Time	Event	Orbit
2000 May 16	0827:41	Launch by Rokot/Briz-KM	PL LC133
		T+2:01 St 1 sep, 61km
		T+2:50 Fairing sep,
		T+5:04 St 2 sep, 153 km
		T+5:04 Briz-KM MES-1, 153 km
	0841:47	T+14:06 Briz-KM MECO-1, 212 km	136 x 558 x 86.4
	0944:01	T+1:16:20 Briz-KM MES-2
	0944:20	T+1:16:39 Briz-KM MECO-2
	1004:47	T+1:37:05 Simsat-1 sep	543 x 558 x 86.3
	1004:47	T+1:37:05 Simsat-2 sep	520 x 544 x 86.4
	1023	T+1:54:46 Briz-KM MES-3
	1023	T+1:54:58 Briz-KM MECO-3	178 x 556 x 86.4