TeamNathanFTW’s New and Improved Blog : April 2004

Wednesday, April 28, 2004

DSCS-2 F5

1977-034A

DSCS II C-5 was the first C model, with improved design life.

Date	Time	Event	Orbit

DSCS II C-5



1977 May 12	1426:58	Launch by Titan 3C	CC LC40
		T+1:49 Stage 1 ignition
		T+2:02 SRM sep
		T+4:18 Stage 1 MECO, sep
	1432	T+5:00? Fairing
	1434?	T+7:40? SECO
	1435?	Stage 2 sep (T+8:00)
	1540?	Transtage burn 1
	2030?	Transtage burn 2
	2040?	Transtage sep
1977 May 13	0858		1428.17 35475 x 35787 x 2.5 GEO 94.3W+2.0E
1977 May 13	0955		1426.80 35448 x 35760 x 2.5 GEO 91.9W+2.3E
1977 May 21	0701		1426.62 35438 x 35763 x 2.4 GEO 82.7W+2.3E
1977 Jun 12			1436.10 35779 x 35793 x 2.4 GEO 12.4W+0.0W
1977 Nov 12			1436.10 35771 x 35801 x 2.0 GEO 11.9W
1979 Jul 31			1436.11 35772 x 35801 x 0.8 GEO 12.8W
1979 May 7		TWTA fails, in storage
1979 Aug 22			1436.05 35770 x 35801 x 0.8 GEO 12.5W
1979 Aug		Move to 5W
1979 Aug 28			1436.11 35774 x 35800 x 0.8 GEO 5.1W
1979 Nov 30			1436.04 35765 x 35805 x 0.6 GEO 4.4W
1979 Dec 12		Mv out
1980 Apr 1			1430.10 35554 x 35783 x 0.5 GEO 66.1+1.5E
1980 Apr 30			1430.43 35569 x 35781 x 0.5 GEO 107.4E+1.4E
1980 May 23		mv in	1436.15 35786 x 35789 x 0.5 GEO 139.4E
1980 Nov		removed from operational inventory
1981 Mar 7			1435.97 35772 x 35795 x 0.9 GEO 140.1E
1981 Dec 17			1436.07 35776 x35795 x 1.5 GEO 140.3E
1981 Dec 20		end of ops, mv out	1489.56 36763 x 36890 x 1.5
1985 Oct 23			1489.53 36740 x 36912 x 5.0
1991 Apr 9			1489.55 36753 x 36899 x 10.2
1999 Apr 16			1489.56 36757 x 36895 x 15.1

Monday, April 26, 2004

Kosmos 653

1974-031A

Kosmos-653 flew a 62.8 degree mission from Plesetsk. PDM telemetry and a TG recovery beacon were observed.

Date	Time	Event	Orbit

Kosmos-653



1974 May 15	1230	Launch by 11A57	NIIP-53
	1234	Blok-I burn
	1238	Blok-I sep
1974 May 16	0136		89.27 190 x 286 x 62.8
1974 May 16	0930		89.27 192 x 287 x 62.8 (RAE)
1974 May 26	0649		89.07 186 x 270 x 62.8
1974 May 27	0332?	Deorbit
	0342?	PO sep
	0347?	Entry
	0404?	Landed after 11.65d

Friday, April 23, 2004

The ISEE A `Mother' satellite was one of a pair designed to study the magnetosphere. It was launched together with the European Space Agency's ISEE B `daughter' satellite on 1977 Oct 22 at 1353 by a Delta 2914 from Cape Canaveral and received the post launch name International Sun-Earth Explorer 1. The Delta delivered the satellites into a 337 x 137904 km x 29.0 deg orbit. The satellite was still operating when it reentered on 1987 Sep 26.

Date	Time	Event	Orbit

ISEE 1



1977 Oct 22	1353:00	Launch by Delta 2914	CC
		T+0:38 SRM 1-6 out
		T+0:39 SRM 7-9 on
		T+1:18 SRM 7-9 out
		T+1:27 SRM 1-9 sep
	1357?	T+3:45 Thor MECO at 91 km
		T+3:54 Thor sep at 96 km
	1357?	T+3:56 Delta SES-1 4:48 at 99 km
		T+4:56 Fairing 126 km
	1401:44	T+8:44 Delta SECO-1 157 km	157? x 285? x 28.8
	1446:31	T+53:31 Delta SES-2 21s 285 km
	1446:52	T+53:52 Delta SECO-2
		T+54:50 Spinup
	1447:52	T+54:52 Delta sep	95.84 276 x 842 x 28.74
	1448	Delta perigee over 22S 115E from elset 1
	1448:33	T+55:33 TES
	1449:17	T+56:17 TECO 287 km
	1450:30	Stage 3 sep T+57:30
	1455?	ISEE-B sep from ISEE-A
	1500	Delta ascending node from elset 1
	1504?	ISEE A perigee over 22S 115E from elset 1
1987 Sep 26	0640?	Reentry over Brazil 38W 7S?

1977-102B

International Sun-Earth Explorer 2, the ISEE B `Daughter' satellite, was built by STAR/Dornier-Freidrichsafen for the European Space Agency. It was launched on 1977 Oct 22 by a Delta 2914 from Cape Canaveral together with NASA's ISEE 1 satellite. The initial orbit was 341 x 137847 km x 29.0 deg. ISEE 2 was designed to measure magnetospheric and solar wind properties close in space and time to ISEE 1 for comparative purposes. In 1979 Oct its onboard thrusters were used to adjust the orbit and re-approach the ISEE 1 satellite. The perigee increased to a maximum of 3300 km around Jan 1980 and then decreased to 300 km or so around Mar 1982 before increasing again to a new maximum of over 6000 km in early 1985 and decreasing again until reentry. ISEE 2 was still transmitting when it reentered on 1987 Sep 26.

Date	Time	Event	Orbit

ISEE 2



1977 Oct 22		Launch by Delta 2914	CC
1977 Oct 28			3438.71 340 x 137837 x 29.0
1977 Nov 29			3442.61 780 x 137511 x 30.4
1978 Apr 9			3441.79 441 x 137826 x 37.1
1978 Aug 2			3439.08 1413 x 136775 x 41.2
1979 Jan 25			3439.05 2305 x 135882 x 47.1
1979 Mar 24			3439.18 1927 x 136263 x 49.5
1979 late		Maneuvers
1979 Sep 1			3441.33 2669 x 135585 x 51.6
1980 Apr 10			3440.99 2664 x 135580 x 53.2
1980 Jun 28			3441.16 3284 x 134965 x 51.7
1982 Apr 3			3439.82 703 x 137506 x 37.3
1983 Apr 20			3440.40 1675 x 136552 x 27.4
1985 Jan 30			3440.93 6321 x 131921 x 31.1
1986 Jun 4			3439.83 3992 x 134218 x 27.5
1987 Sep 21			3438.78 224 x 137956 x 8.7
1977 Sep 26	0643?	Reentry over Brazil 44W 7S?

Thursday, April 22, 2004

Kosmos 2347

1997-079A

Kosmos-2337 continued the tradition of annual December US-P launches. It ended operations in late 1999 with no replacement. A small destruct event released 8 tracked objects. RCS was 23m2.

Date	Time	Event	Orbit

Kosmos-2347



1997 Dec 9	0717	Launch by 11K69	KB LC90
	0719	Stage 1 sep
	0719	Stage 2 burn
	0721	Stage 2 sep
		AKM burn
	0803?	Orbit insertion	403 x 418 x 65.0
1999 Nov 19			92.78 402 x 418 x 65.0
1999 Nov 19	2200?	End of mission burn
1999 Nov 20			91.43 278 x 410 x 65.0
1999 Nov 22	0440	small destruct event
1999 Nov 30			90.11 211 x 347 x 65.0

Wednesday, April 21, 2004

Iridium 38

1997-069A

Delta Iridium MS-5 was launched on 1997 Nov 9, placing a further five satellites in orbit. The MS-5 launch returned to using the higher 625 x 642 km parking orbit, since the satellite was given a lighter fuel load, reducing mass to 662 kg.

Iridium SV038 raised its orbit in late November, but only reached the engineering orbit of 765 km instead of the operational orbit of 780 km. Its orbit was finally raised to operational height in Apr 1998.

Date	Time	Event	Orbit

Iridium 38



1997 Nov 9	0134:26	Launch by Delta	V SLC2
	0135	T+1:04 SRM burnout x 6
	0135	T+1:27 SRM sep
	0136	T+2:09 SRM burnout x 3
	0136	T+2:11 SRM sep
	0138	T+4:20 MECO
	0138	T+4:34 St 2 TIG
	0138	T+4:43 Fairing sep
	0145:39	T+11:13 SECO1	170 x 647 x 86.4
	0232	T+58:20 TIG 2
	0232	T+58:36 SECO2	639 x 639 x 86.6
	0236:56	T+1:02:30 SV1 deploy
	0246:56	T+1:12:30 SV2 deploy
	0251:06	T+1:16:40 SV3 deploy
	0256:06	T+1:21:40 SV4 deploy
	0259:26	T+1:25:00 SV5 deploy
	0320	T+1:45:50 Delta depletion	254 x 627 x 83.56
	0320	T+1:46:05 SECO3
1997 Nov 9			97.38 625 x 641 x 86.6
1997 Nov 12			97.40 626 x 642 x 86.6
1997 Nov 15			97.42 626 x 643 x 86.6
1997 Nov 20			98.82 699 x 705 x 86.5
1997 Nov 22			100.03 756 x 762 x 86.5
1997 Nov 23			100.22 766 x 770 x 86.4
1997 Nov 28			100.23 768 x 770 x 86.4
1998 Jan 6			100.24 768 x 771 x 86.4
1998 Jan 7			100.17 764 x 768 x 86.4
1998 Feb 4			100.19 765 x 769 x 86.4
1998 Apr 5			100.20 766 x 769 x 86.4
1998 Apr 25			100.39 775 x 778 x 86.4

Friday, April 16, 2004

Meteosat 5

1991-015B

The second EUMETSAT MOP satellite, MOP 2/Meteosat 5, was launched in Mar 1991. On 1995 Dec 1, EUMETSAT took control of the spacecraft at its Darmstadt mission control center, taking over from the European Space Agency's ESOC site. In Jan 1998 Meteosat-5 was replaced by Meteosat 7 and began drifting to the Indian Ocean to participate in the Indoex program at 67E, studying cloud formation and atmospheric pollution in an international experiment.

Date	Time	Event	Orbit

Meteosat 5 (MOP 2)



1991 Mar 2	2336:00	Launch by Ariane 44LP	CSG ELA2
		T+1:06 PAP sep
		T+2:29 PAL sep
		T+3:32 St 1 sep
		T+3:35 St 2 MES
	2340	T+4:33 Fairing sep
	2341	T+5:43 St 2 sep
	2341	T+5:46 St 3 MES
	2353:47	T+17:47 St 3 MECO	640.93 240 x 36252 x 7.1
	2356:11	T+20:11 Astra 1B sep
	2358:39	T+22:39 Spelda sep
1991 Mar 3	0000:35	T+24:35 MOP 2 sep
1991 Mar 3	0021:00	T+45m spinup, 40 kg fuel; 682 kg total
	0250:00	Sun angle correction
	0345	Attitude slew 1
	1210	Attitude slew 2
	1434:14	Attitude slew 3
1991 Mar 4			632.57 194 x 35869 x 7.05
1991 Mar 4	1334:12	MAGE 1 burn
	1339	MAGE 1 eject
	1410	Spin axis erection; mass 322.1 kg
1991 Mar 4			1424.84 35146 x 35985 x 1.2 GEO 32.1W+2.8E
1991 Mar 5	0105:42	Drift correction 4.9m/s
1991 Mar 5	1200	Control to payload commissioning	1431.52 35413 x 35980 x 1.20 GEO 29.5W-1.1/d
1991 Mar 7	1000		1431.65 35413 x 35985 x 1.20 GEO 27.9W-1.1/d
1991 Mar 23			1435.66 35767 x 35788 x 1.2 GEO 4.3W
1991 Mar 29			1435.79 35770 x 35791 x 1.2 GEO 3.9W
1991 Apr		mv to 1W
1991 Apr 3		Radiometer baffle cover ejected
		Radiometer cooler cover ejected
	1125	First image
1991 May 1			1435.72 35771 x 35786 x 1.1 GEO 1.0W
1991 May 24		moving to 4W
1991 Jun 4			1436.53 35784 x 35805 x 1.0 GEO 3.9W
1991 Oct 22			1436.08 35777 x 35795 x 0.8 GEO 4.0W
1992 Jan 14		Ownership to EUMETSAT
1992 Jul 12			1436.04 35777 x 35793 x 0.6 GEO 3.9W
1992 Aug 3			1435.87 35778x 35786 x 0.2 GEO 3.6W+0.05E
1992 Aug		Move to 1W
1992 Sep 7			1435.75 35771 x 35788 x 0.2 GEO 0.8W
1992 Nov 6			1436.45 35786 x 35800 x 0.1 GEO 0.8W
1992 Nov		Move out, drift to 8W?
1992 Nov 20			1436.33 35782 x 35799 x 0.1 GEO 3.6W+0.06W
1993 Feb 9			1436.23 35782 x 35796 x 0.2 GEO 6.7W+0.04W
1993 Jun 29			1436.19 35785 x 35791 x 0.2 GEO 7.3W+0.03W
1993 Sep 3			1436.10 35781 x 35792 x 0.2 GEO 7.8W
1993 Sep 24			1436.09 35781 x 35791 x 0.2 GEO 7.7W
1993 Oct		Move to 0E
1993 Oct 29			1436.02 35757 x 35812 x 0.3 GEO 0.5E
1993 Nov 18			1436.22 35784 x 35793 x 0.3 GEO 0.3W
1994 Apr 5			1436.05 35779 x 35792 x 0.2 GEO 1.2W
1994 Jul 24			1436.12 35779 x 35794 x 0.3 GEO 0.1E
1995 Jan 28			1436.24 35783 x 35794 x 0.1 GEO 1.0W
1995 Dec 1		Control to EUMETSAT-Darmstadt
1996 Apr 14			1436.19 35781 x 35795 x 0.4 GEO 0.2E
1997 Mar 13			1436.84 35789 x 35814 x 1.1 GEO 1.6E
1997 Mar 15		GEO mv out	GEO 0E
1997 May 18		mv in
1997 May 22			1436.07 35782 x 35780 x 1.2 GEO 9.7W
1998 Jan 13			1436.07 35768 x 35803 x 1.7 GEO 9.2W
1998 Jan 18		mv out
1998 May 19		mv in	GEO
1998 Jun 23			1436.00 35756 x 35812 x 2.0 GEO 63.4E
1998 Jul 1		Start Indoex data
1998 Nov 30			1435.98 35779 x 35789 x 2.3 GEO 63.3E
1999 Jun 15			1436.04 35758 x 35812 x 2.8 GEO 62.5E
2003 Aug 26			1436.11 35779 x 35793 x 6.1 GEO 62.8E

Sunday, April 11, 2004

Kosmos 613

1973-096A

7K-T 11F615A8 No. 34A was the third test flight of the stripped-down Soyuz ferry. It flew a 60 day long duration test to confirm that the systems would survive an extended stay powered down while docked to a DOS or Almaz station. The orbital module was jettisoned prior to retrofire and remained in orbit until 1974 Mar 9.

Date	Time	Event	Orbit

Kosmos-613



1973 Nov 30	0520	Launch by Soyuz 11A511	KB
	0524	Blok-I burn
	0529	Blok-I sep
	1430		89.04 187 x 268 x 51.61
1973 Dec 1	0230		89.11 188 x 273 x 51.60
1973 Dec 3			88.97 185 x 263 x 51.60
		Orbit raise
1973 Dec 3	0930		89.26 200 x 277 x 51.6
1973 Dec 5			89.10 201 x 259 x 51.6
	1200?	Orbit raise	91.06 253 x 400 x 51.62
1974 Jan 11			90.78 250 x 377 x 51.59
1974 Jan 28	0930		90.58 239 x 366 x 51.59
1974 Jan 29
	0340?	Orbital module sep 96C
	0458?	Rev 953/TLE24: Node 2E good opp
	0449?	Retrofire
	0452?	DO CO
	0507?	PAO sep?
	0513?	Entry
	0536?	Landed after 60.1d

Saturn S-IVB-507

1969-099B

SA-507 was launched on 1969 Nov 14 at 1622. The TLI burn was at 1909, and Apollo 12 separated at 2035. The propellants were dumped and the stage flew past the Moon at 5724 km on 1969 Nov 18 at 0610. A trajectory error left S-IVB-507 in a 165000 x 850000 km Earth orbit instead of the intended solar orbit.

The closest apporach of 5715 km above the lunar surface was not close enough to accelerate the stage to escape; an inaccurate state vector meant that the commanded ullage burn was too long. The flyby increased the geocentric speed of the stage by 0.548 km/s.

Date	Time	Event	Orbit

S-4B-507



1969 Nov 14	1622:00	Range zero
	1622:00	Launch by Saturn V (SA-507)	KSC LC39A
	1622:36	Lightning strike on SA-507, 1.95 km alt
	1622:52	Second small lightning strike
	1624:15	S-IC CECO
	1624:42	S-IC OECO, sep	-6009 x 123 x 32.1
	1624:44	S-II ignition
	1625:12	Interstage
	1625:18	LES jett
	1629:41	S-II CECO
	1631:12	S-II OECO
	1631:13	S-II sep	-2011 x 191 x 32.70
	1631:14	T+9:14 SIC impact 30.27N 73.90W
	1631:16	S-IVB ignition
	1631:25	Ullage case sep
	1631:41	T+9:41 S-II apogee
	1633:34	S-IVB shutdown
	1633:44	Earth orbit insertion	88.2 181 x 185 x 32.54
	1642:21	T+20:21 S-II impact 31.47N 34.21W
	1909:25	S-IVB TLI burn
	1915:04	S-IVB cutoff
	1915:14	Translunar injection	215 x 409386 x 30.360
			215 x 409138 x 30.36
			215 x 428571 x 30.36
V tab 4.6			215 x 428200 x 30.36
C3 tab 4.6	1940:05	Sep from S-IVB/SLA	219 x 424147 x 30.42
		Transposition and docking maneuver
	1948:53	Docked with LM/S-IVB
	2035:01	CSM/LM sep from S-IVB
	2048:40	APS evasive 2.9m/s
	2058:20	CVS LH2 vent 2.8m/s
	2110:00	LOX dump 10.0
	2110:58	LOX dump end
	2112:07	LH2 NPV
		APS-1 11.8m/s 300s
		APS-2 10.7m/s 270s
	2150:20	APS burn end
1969 Nov 17	1344	Enter lunar sphere 66183 km
1969 Nov 18	0610	Lunar flyby	5709 x -19546 x 20.43
		Trailing edge, 7000 km
1969 Nov 18	2236	Depart lunar sphere 66183 km
1969 Dec			150000-176000 x 830000-890000
1969 Dec			165000 x 850000
1971 Mar?		Escape via L1
2002 Apr		Capture via L1
2002		Detected as J002E3
2002 Jun 12	1358 TDB	160967 km from Moon
2002 Jun 15	1957	193878 km perigee
2002 Aug 9	0752	238608 km from Moon
2002 Aug 11	0250	365916 km perigee
2002 Aug 21	2119	252222 km from Moon
2002 Sep 28	1402	232175 km perigee
2002 Dec 16		144062 km perigee
2003 Jun 19	0100	Depart Earth sphere via L1

Saturday, April 10, 2004

Ranger 6

1964-007A

The first Block III Ranger, Ranger VI (Ranger A, P-53) was launched at 1549:09 on 1964 Jan 30 by Atlas Agena B from Canaveral on a 95.0 deg azimuth. The fairing was jettisoned at 1554:15, the Atlas separated at 1554:19, and the Agena ignited at 1555:00. After a coast period the Agena reignited at 1616:27 for translunar injection. Ranger VI separated at 1619:23 and the Agena made a retro maneuver at 1626:09. Ranger VI made a course correction at 0857 on Jan 31, when the range to Earth was 170130 km. However the cameras failed the same day, and although the 368 kg probe impacted the lunar surface at 0924:33 on Feb 2, at 9.33N 21.52E, pictures weren’t returned.

According to the JPL mission report, the Agena flew past the lunar trailing edge at 3630 km and entered a 383.7 day heliocentric orbit.

The lunar impact trajectory was at 8.656 km/s at -48.49 deg, corresponding to a -608 x -3007 x 19.80 deg selenocentric orbit.

Date	Time	Event	Orbit

Ranger 6



1964 Jan 30	1549:09	Launch by Atlas Agena B	CKAFS LC12
		T+2:16 BECO
	1550:16	Cameras failed, arcing
	1553:57	T+4:48 SECO
	1554:13	T+5:04 VECO
	1554:15	T+5:06 Fairing sep
	1554:17	T+5:08 Atlas sep
	1555:01	T+5:52 Agena burn
	1557:33	T+8:24 Agena MECO-1	185 x 185 x 28.5
	1615:19	T+26:10 Agena MES-2
	1616:45	T+27:36 Agena MECO-2
	1619:23	T+30:14 Agena sep
	1626:09	Agena solid retro 13.7 m/s
	1650:06	Solar panels extended
	1701:00	Agena last data at 12400 km
1964 Jan 31	0857:09	MCC 67s 41.3m/s
	0858:16	MCC off
1964 Feb 2	0924:33	Lunar impact

Luna 22

1974-037A

Like Luna-19, Luna-22 (E-8LS No. 206) was a modified Lunokhod-based lunar orbiter.

Date	Time	Event	Orbit

Luna-22



1974 May 29	0856:51	Launch by Proton-K	KB
	0906	Stage 3 sep
	0910?	Blok D burn
	0912?	Blok D MECO-1
	0932	Desc node
	1014?	Blok D MES-2
	1017	Asc node
	1020?	Blok D MECO-2, TLI
1974 May 30		TCM
1974 Jun 2		Lunar orbit insertion	220 x 220 x 19.7
1974 Jun 9		TV survey	25 x 244 x 19.7
1974 Jun 13		TCM	131.5 194 x 285 x 19.7
1974 Aug 26			131.6 234 x 246 x 19.6
1974 Nov 11		TCM	191.8 171 x 1438 x 19.3
1975 Jan 7			191.8 172 x 1438 x 19.3
1975 May 8			191.8 193 x 1415 x 19.9
1975 Aug 24		TCM for TV tests	30 x 1400 x 19
1975 Aug 26		TCM	180.0 100 x 1286 x 21

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