Jonathan's Space Report
No. 420 2000 Feb 10 Cambridge, MA
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Shuttle and Stations
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STS-99 is due for launch Feb 11.
The first Progress M1 enhanced cargo ferry was launched from Baykonur on
Feb 1. Spacecraft 11F615A55 No. 250 took off from area 1 at 5-GIK
(Baykonur) at 0647 UTC.
The original Progress, 7K-TG or 11F615A15 (the A15 mod of the 11F615
Soyuz class vehicle) was first launched in 1978. The 11F615 Soyuz,
developed as a lunar spaceship in the 1960s and used as a space station
crew transport since the 1970s, had a propulsion module
(priborno-agregatniy ostek, PAO), a descent vehicle (spuskaemiy apparat,
SA), and a habitation module (bitovoy otsek, BO). The Progress was very
similar but replaced the BO with an externally simpler cargo module
(gruzovoy otsek, GO) and replaced the recoverable SA with a
non-recoverable fuel module (Otsek komlonyemntov dozapravki, OKD) used
for refuelling the space station. 43 Progress vehicles were launched to
the DOS-5 (Salyut-6), DOS-6 (Salyut-7), and DOS-7 (Mir) space stations.
The first 7K-TGM or 11F615A55 (the A55 mod of Soyuz), Progress M, was
launched in 1989 and had improved onboard systems. 42 Progress M
vehicles have been launched to Mir.
The Progress M1 (probably 7K-TGM1) modification of the A55 variant was
developed for the International Space Station. This vehicle, however,
was assigned to Mir. It docked with the unoccupied Mir complex on Feb 3
at 0802:20 UTC and began raising Mir's orbit on Feb 5, with further
burns planned through Feb 9.
Progress M-42 undocked on Feb 2 at 0311:52 UTC and was deorbited over
the Pacific later the same day at 0610:40 UTC with an 8 minute burn.
The spacecraft had been docked to the Kvant module since 1999 Jul 18.
Recent Launches
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The European Space Agency's X-ray observatory, now renamed XMM-Newton,
has released its first light images (http://xmm.esa.int).
Warmest congratulations to my European colleagues on the succesful
beginning of what I hope will be a long and productive science career
for XMM-Newton - and fingers crossed for my friends at Goddard and in Japan
for the launch of the third and final member of the new generation
of X-ray observatories, Astro E, due in a few minutes as I type this.
Hispasat 1C was launched on Feb 3 by an Atlas IIAS from Cape Canaveral
Air Force Station. The satellite is an Alcatel/Cannes Spacebus 3000 and
joins the Spanish domestic satcom fleet. It was placed in a 222 x 45730
km x 18.7 deg transfer orbit.
Kosmos-2369 was launched by Zenit-2 from Baykonur on Feb 3.
The satellite is a Tselina-2 signals intelligence vehicle built
by KB Yuzhnoe and is in an 845 x 853 km x 71.0 deg orbit.
Four Loral Globalstar communications satellites were launched by a
Boeing Delta 7420 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Feb 8. I
don't have the flight model numbers for these satellites yet. The Delta
rocket entered a 185 x 914 km x 51.9 deg transfer orbit 11 min after
launch; at 1 hour after launch a second burn circularized the orbit at
916 km.
The first test flight of the Soyuz-Fregat launch vehicle on Feb 8
appears to have been a success. The Fregat upper stage is derived from
Lavochkin's Fobos/Mars-96 ADU propulsion unit. It uses the same liquid
engine as Rokot's Briz upper stage. The three-stage 11A511U Soyuz-U
rocket placed Fregat and its payload in a suborbital trajectory. A first
Fregat burn to transfer orbit was followed by a second burn at apogee to
circularize the orbit. Fregat then deployed a 1-tonne dummy mass. The
dummy satellite was placed in a 581 x 606 km x 64.8 deg orbit. After
several hours, Fregat made a third burn to lower perigee, followed by a
fourth at perigee to deorbit. It then separated the attached IRDT
(Inflatable Reentry and Descent Technology) payload, a joint project
between ESA, the German DASA and the Russian Lavochkin company. IRDT was
built by DASA-Bremen and Lavochkin. IRDT separated, and both Fregat and
IRDT deployed inflatable heat shields for reentry. According to the ESA
web site they landed in Russia 8 hours after launch with an impact
velocity of about 47 kph. No report yet on how well the payloads
survived; a Russian report indicates the landing was in the Orenburg
recovery zone but that the landers have not yet been found. IRDT was 110
kg and had a shield 0.8m in size packed, inflating to 3.6m dia. on use.
Fregat itself had a 4-m diameter shield.
A press release from China confirms that Zhongxing-22 was a DFH-3
satellite built by the China Academy of Space Technology.
The FalconSat-1 satellite launched on Jan 27 carries the CHAWS-LD
(Charging Hazards and Wake Studies-Long Duration) experiment to measure
spacecraft charging effects in LEO. The satellite was developed and is
operated by USAFA (the US Air Force Academy) and also provides USAFA
cadets with space operations experience and training. The USAFA flew an
earlier experiment, Falcon Gold, as an attached payload on a Centaur
upper stage in Oct-Nov 1997, and is also involved in the main JAWSAT
payload on the Jan 27 launch. Mass of FalconSat-1 is 52 kg, not
15 kg as I claimed last issue. The ASUSat 1 satellite failed
after 15 hours on orbit because of power supply problems.
The Artemis team of women undergrads at Santa Clara University has three
picosatellites, not just one, aboard the OPAL deployer. They are called
JAK, Thelma, and Louise. (JAK is the initials of the infant son of
Artemis' advisor). JAK has a mass of about 0.2 kg, the other two around
0.5 kg. Size around 0.1-0.2m each. There are a total of
six picosats (three Artemis, STENSAT, and two Aerospace Corp.
picosats).
The first two picosats, the tethered DARPA/aerospace corp pair,
were deployed on Feb 7 at 0334:16 UTC. Thanks to James Cutler of
Stanford for this info. OPAL is having some transmitter problems
which delayed the initial picosat release.
Table of Recent Launches
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Date UT Name Launch Vehicle Site Mission INTL.
DES.
Jan 21 0103 DSCS III B-8 Atlas IIA Canaveral SLC36A Comsat 01A
Jan 25 0104 Galaxy 10R Ariane 42L Kourou ELA2 Comsat 02A
Jan 25 1645 Zhongxing-22 CZ-3A Xichang LC2 Comsat 03A
Jan 27 0303 JAWSAT ) Minotaur Vandenberg CLF Tech. 04A
OCS ) Calib. 04B
OPAL ) Tech. 04C
FalconSat I) Tech. 04D
ASUSAT ) Img/Com 04E
JAK ) Science 04B
Thelma ) Science 04B
Louise ) Science 04B
STENSAT ) Comsat 04B
Feb 1 0647 Progress M1-1 Soyuz Baykonur LC1 Cargo 05A
Feb 3 0926 Kosmos-2369 Zenit-2 Baykonur LC45 Sigint 06A
Feb 3 2330 Hispasat 1C Atlas IIAS Canaveral SLC36 Comsat 07A
Feb 7 0334 MEMS 1 ) - OPAL, LEO Tech. 04H
MEMS 2 ) Tech. 04H
Feb 8 2124 Globalstar ) Delta 7420 Canaveral SLC17 Comsat 08A
Globalstar ) Comsat 08B
Globalstar ) Comsat 08C
Globalstar ) Comsat 08D
Feb 8 2320 IRDT ) Soyuz/Fregat Baykonur LC31 Tech 09
Dummy satellite) Tech 09A
Fregat ) Tech 09B
Current Shuttle Processing Status
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Orbiters Location Mission Launch Due
OV-102 Columbia Palmdale OMDP
OV-103 Discovery OPF Bay 1 STS-92 2000 Sep? ISS 3A
OV-104 Atlantis OPF Bay 3 STS-101 2000 Apr 25 ISS 2A.2
OV-105 Endeavour LC39A STS-99 2000 Feb 11 SRTM
MLP1/
MLP2/ LC39B
MLP3/RSRM-71/ET-92/OV-105 LC39A
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| Jonathan McDowell | phone : (617) 495-7176 |
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