Jonathan’s Space Report No. 651
Jonathan’s Space Report No. 651 2011 Dec 20 Somerville, MA, USA
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Space Station
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After the arrival of Soyuz TMA-22 at Poisk on Nov 16, Expedition 29 continued with commander Mike Fossum and flight engineers FE-1 Anton Shkaplerov, FE-2 Anatoliy Ivanishin, FE-3 Dan Burbank, FE-4 Sergey Volkov, and FE-5 Satoshi Furukawa aboard the Station. Soyuz TMA-02M was docked at Rassvet, and Progress M-13M is docked at Pirs.
On Nov 21 at 2300 UTC the Soyuz TMA-02M spaceship undocked from Rassvet with Fossum, Volkov and Furukawa, and Expedition 30 began under the command of Dan Burbank. Soyuz TMA-02M landed at 0226 UTC on Nov 22. The ISS was reboosted on Nov 18, Nov 30 and Dec 9. On Dec 15, the complex was in a 375 x 409 km x 51.7 deg orbit. Launch of the Soyuz TMA-03M spaceship from Baykonur with Oleg Kononenko, Andre Kuipers and Don Pettit is scheduled for Dec 21.
Shenzhou 8
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The Shenzhou 8 spacecraft descent module (fanhui cang) landed in China at 1132 UTC on Nov 17 after separation of the orbital module (guidao cang) at 1045 UTC and deorbit a few seconds later; the propulsion module (tuijin cang) separated at 1107 UTC. (Times thanks to Bob Christy). The orbital module remains in space, as does the Tiangong-1 spacelab.
SY-4/CX-1-03
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China launched a Chang Zheng (Long March) 2D from its northern Jiuquan spaceport on Nov 20, carrying Shiyan weixing 4 (Experimental Satellite 4). The smaller ‘Chuanxin yihao 03 xing’ (Chuanxin-1 satellite 3) was also placed in orbit, together with the CZ-2D second stage rocket. CX-1 03 and SW-4 are in 783 x 804 km x 98.5 deg orbits.
Yaogan Weixing 13
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The YW-13 satellite, launched from Taiyuan on Nov 29 into a 505 x 510 km x 97.1 deg orbit, is probably operating in conjunction with the YW-6 radar satellite launched in 2009.
BDW 10
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The di shi ke beidou daohang weixing (North Star Navigation Satellite No. 10) was launched on Dec 1 from Xichang. It is also known as Beidou IGSO 5, the fifth in the series to go to inclined geosynchronous orbit. As of Dec 16, the satellite was in a 35704 x 35865 km x 55.2 deg orbit.
Mars Science Laboratory
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MSL is on the way to Mars after a successful launch. The 3839 kg Mars Science Laboratory consists of the 899 kg Curiosity Rover, attached to a rocket-powered descent stage ‘skycrane’ with a mass of around 1370 kg including 387 kg of hydrazine fuel; both are encased in an aeroshell consisting of a 385 kg heat shield, a 349 kg backshell, and eight jettisonable balance masses (two 75 kg masses jettisoned prior to Mars atmosphere entry and six 25 kg masses jettisoned later). This entry assembly is delivered to Mars by a 539 kg cruise stage which will steer the vehicle during the trans-Mars coast. (Note: there is a discrepancy between the masses in the MSL press kit and those on http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/mission/spacecraft/, so I am currently uncertain about the masses of the descent stage and aeroshell components.)
Atlas V serial AV-028 took off from complex 41 at 1502:00 UTC on Nov 26, and after jettison of four solid boosters emerged from the atmosphere at around 1505 UTC, jettisoning the payload fairing and the CFLR (Centaur Forward Load Reactor, which connects the Centaur to the fairing). At 1513 UTC MSL/Centaur entered a 165 x 324 km x 35.5 deg parking orbit. At 1533 UTC Centaur reignited for the trans-Mars insertion burn; at 1541 UTC the engines shut down and at 1544 UTC MSL separated from the Centaur. MSL and Centaur are on a hyperbolic Earth orbit and will depart the Earth-Moon system on Dec 1. MSL’s solar orbit will be 0.98 x 1.53 AU x 1.7 deg, roughly tangent to both the orbits of Earth and Mars. The probe will arrive in the vicinity of Mars in 2012 Aug.
Fobos-Grunt
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On Nov 22 ESA reported a successful contact with the Fobos-Grunt probe stranded in low Earth orbit, using its ground station in Perth. Further contacts were made on Nov 23/24. However, later contact attempts did not succeed and it now appears that the probe will reenter the Earth’s atmosphere in mid-January. On Dec 17, Fobos-Grunt was in a 198 x 273 km x 51.4 deg orbit.
Asiasat 7
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A Loral 1300 class communications satellite for Asiasat of Hong Kong was launched on a Proton from Baykonur on Nov 25. The Proton put it in a -496 x 170 km trajectory, and the Briz-M upper stage then placed it in Earth orbit. As of Dec 15, Asiasat 7 was in geostationary orbit over 101.5 deg East.
Glonass
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Russia continued to replenish its Glonass navigation constellation with the launch of Glonass-M No. 46 (constellation ID 746) on a Soyuz/Fregat from Plesetsk on Nov 28 into a 19102 x 19157 km x 64.8 deg orbit.
Amos/Luch
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A Khrunichev Proton placed the Amos-5 and Luch-5A satellites in geosynchronous orbit on Dec 11. Luch-5A is a Russian tracking and data relay satellite analogous to NASA’s TDRS system. Earlier Luch satellites used the large 2-tonne KAUR-4 bus, but this one is only 1148 kg and uses Reshetnev’s new Ekspress-1000 bus, also used for the Glonass-K satellites. The second passenger was Amos 5, a slighty larger Reshetnev Ekspress-1000H with a mass of about 1600 kg, for the Israeli satcom operator IAI Spacecom.
IGS Radar-3
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Japan launched an H2A rocket on Dec 12 carrying a radar intelligence satellite, “jouhoushuushuu eisei re^da 3 gouki” (IGS Radar-3). The satellite is in an approximately 500 km, 97 deg sun-synchronous orbit.
Pleiades 1a
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The second Soyuz launch from French Guiana was a Soyuz ST-A, the Soyuz-2-1a model with the old-style engine in the third stage. The upper stage was Fregat No. 1021. Main payload was the 970 kg Pleiades 1a high resolution imaging satellite, operated by CNES for the French Ministry of Defense. Four 120 kg electronic intelligence satellites for the DGA (French military procurement agency) and SSOT (Fasat-Charlie), an imaging satellite for the Chilean Air Force, were also carried. The Elisa payloads were attached to the ASAP-S dispenser, which was ejected to reveal the SSOT satellite underneath. Orbit of Pleiades is 676 x 692 km x 98.2 deg.
Nigcomsat 1R
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China launched the Nigcomsat 1R satelite for Nigeria into a 174 x 41820 km x 24.8 deg geostationary transfer orbit. The 5-tonne DFH-4 satellite was built by China’s CAST organization and replaced the failed Nigcomsat 1 which operated from 2007 to 2008. It carries a C, Ku, Ka and L-band communications payload. This flight was the 18th Chinese orbital launch attempt of 2011.
M-Cubed
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The University of Michigan M-Cubed cubesat, launched with the NPP weather satellite on Oct 28, is now thought to be attached to, or entangled with, Montana State’s Hiscock Radiation Belt Explorer (E1PU2) cubesat which was ejected along with it. The two craft are being tracked as 2011-61F, catalog 37855.
Cassini
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The Cassini probe made a 99 km flyby of Dione on Dec 12, followed by a 3586 km flyby of Titan on Dec 13. Cassini has been in orbit around Saturn since 2005 Aug.
Suborbital flights
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On Nov 17 the US Army launched a three-stage STARS rocket from Kauai. STARS uses the first two stages of the retired Polaris A3 missile with an Orbus 1A upper stage. The payload was the Advanced Hypersonic Weapon, which reentered the atmosphere over the Pacific and then flew a long hypersonic glide trajectory to the Army’s Kwajalein island impact area.
The DLR/Astrium microgravity payload TEXUS 48 was launched by the Swedish Space Corp. team from ESRANGE on Nov 27 using a Brazilian VSB-30 rocket.
The Rosgidromet (Russian weather service) has launched the first MR-30 weather rocket from Kapustin Yar, on or before Dec 19.
Erratum
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Marc Rayman informs me that the actual target orbit for Dawn is 210 km above the nominal Vesta radius of 265 km. Dawn reached this Low Altitude Mapping Orbit (LAMO) on Dec 8, and began science observations on Dec 12.
Table of Recent (orbital) Launches
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Date UT Name Launch Vehicle Site Mission INTL.
DES.
Nov 4 1251 Glonass-M No. 43) Proton-M/Briz-M Baykonur LC81 Navsat 64A
Glonass-M No. 44) Navsat 64B
Glonass-M No. 45) Navsat 64C
Nov 8 2016 Fobos-Grunt Zenit-2SB Baykonur LC45 Mars probe 65A
Nov 9 0321 Yaogan Weixing 12) Chang Zheng 4B Taiyuan Imaging? 66B
Tianxun 1 ) Imaging 66A
Nov 14 0414 Soyuz TMA-22 Soyuz-FG Baykonur LC1 Spaceship 67A
Nov 20 0015 Shiyan Weixing 4 ) Chang Zheng 2D Jiuquan Tech? 68B
Chuanxin 1-03 ) Tech 68A
Nov 25 1910 Asiasat 7 Proton-M/Briz-M Baykonur LC200/39 Comms 69B
Nov 26 1502 MSL Atlas V 541 Canaveral SLC41 Mars probe 70A
Nov 28 0826 Glonass-M No. 46 Soyuz-2-1B Plesetsk LC43 Navsat 71A
Nov 29 1850 Yaogan Weixing 13 Chang Zheng 2C Taiyuan Radar? 72A
Dec 1 2107 Beidou DW10 Chang Zheng 3A Xichang Navsat 73A
Dec 11 1117 Amos 5 ) Proton-M/Briz-M Baykonur Comms 74A
Luch 5A ) DataRelay 74B
Dec 12 0121 JSE Reda-3 gouki H-IIA 202 Tanegashima Radar 75A
Dec 17 0203 Pleiades HR1 ) Soyuz ST-A CSG ELS Imaging 76A
Elisa 1 ) Sigint 76
Elisa 2 ) Sigint 76
Elisa 3 ) Sigint 76
Elisa 4 ) Sigint 76
Fasat-Charlie) Imaging 76
Dec 19 1641 Nigcomsat 1R Chang Zheng 3BE Xichang LC2 Comms 77A
Table of Recent (suborbital) Launches
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Date UT Payload/Flt Name Launch Vehicle Site Mission Apogee/km
Nov 2 0750 RV Jericho III Palmachim Test 300?
Nov 3 0645 RV Topol’ Plesetsk Test 1000?
Nov 6 NASA 36.264UH Black Brant 9 White Sands Astronomy 250?
Nov 15 0330 Agni RV Agni IV Chandipur Test 900
Nov 17 1130 AHW Flight 1A STARS Kauai LC42 Hypersonic 1000?
Nov 25 2300 Orion V05 Orion Natal Test 100?
Nov 27 0910 TEXUS 48 VSB-30 Kiruna Micrograv 270?
Dec 2 2200 VS30 V08 VS-30 Natal Space sci? 173?
Dec 3 0721 ICI-3 VS-30/Orion Svalbard Auroral 354
Dec 19? MR-30 payload MR-30 Kapustin Yar Test 304
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| Jonathan McDowell | phone : (617) 495-7176 |
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