Shuttle and Mir

NASA astronaut Shannon Lucid is preparing to come home after the longest space flight by a US citizen. Atlantis was launched on mission STS-79 at 0854:49 UTC on Sep 16. The replaced RSRM-56 solid rocket boosters operated just fine and separated at 0857 UTC, although we'll have to wait till they get towed home to know if there was any gas blowby. MECO (Main Engine Cutoff) came at 0903 UTC, followed by external tank ET-81 separation with Atlantis in a 82 x 296 km x 51.6 deg orbit. The OMS 2 burn to raise orbit to 157 x 293 km was carried out at 0937 UTC, and the payload bay doors were opened at 1015 UTC.

On Sep 19 Atlantis docked with the Mir complex. The crew reported 'tally ho' (visual contact) at 0107 UTC, after the terminal burn at 0033 UTC. By 0139 they were 3 km apart; twenty minutes later that distance had dropped by a factor of ten. The crew closed in to 10 meters at 0303 UTC, and carried out stationkeeping at that distance for a few minutes, before closing in again for docking at 0313 UTC. The docking rings retracted and brought the two vehicles together for `hard dock' at 0320 UTC. At 0540 the hatch was opened and Lucid, Korzun and Kaleri were able to greet Blaha, Readdy, Wilcutt, Akers, Apt and Walz.

Aboard Atlantis in the payload bay are the Orbiter Docking System, the modified Long Tunnel, and the Spacehab Double Module. The Spacehab has supplies for the Mir station. Astronaut John Blaha will relieve Shannon Lucid as NASA resident on the complex.

Recent Launches

The launch profile of Inmarsat III F-2 satellite is still unclear. Apparently it did not carry an apogee motor, and was placed directly in geostationary orbit by the Blok-DM-1 upper stage. However, Space Command have not yet tracked the stage. Inmarsat III F-2 is a Series 4000 satellite built by Lockheed Martin Telecommunications (formerly Astro Space). It will serve the Atlantic Ocean region; Inmarsat III F-1 is operating over the Indian Ocean. The Inmarsat satellites provide mobile communications services at L-band, primarily for ships and aircraft.

A Navstar Block IIA GPS (Global Positioning System) navigation satellite, SVN 30, was launched on Sep 12. The McDonnell Douglas Delta 7925 placed it in an elliptical transfer orbit, and the Star 37 apogee motor fired to place it in a 12 hour orbit at 55 deg inclination. One more GPS Block IIA satellite, SVN 38, remains to be launched. The Block IIA satellites are built by Rockwell.

The first calibration reference sphere was ejected from the MSX ballistic missile defence research satellite on Aug 24. Its SPIRIT III solid-hydrogen cooled infrared telescope is operating well.

Erratum: Kosmos-2333 was launched from GIK-5 Baykonur, not GIK-1 Plesetsk. Sorry!

Erratum: The Inmarsat III F-2 launch contract was directly with Krunichev and did not involve International Launch Services. My apologies for the error.

Table of Recent Launches

Date UT       Name            Launch Vehicle  Site            Mission    INTL.
                                                                          DES.

Aug  8 2249   Italsat F2  )    Ariane 44L     Kourou ELA2     Comsat      44A
              Telecom 2D  )                                   Comsat      44B
Aug 14 2221   Molniya-1T       Molniya-M      Plesetsk        Comsat      45A
Aug 17 0153   ADEOS       )    H-II           Tanegashima Y   Rem.sens.   46A
              JAS-2       )                                   Comsat      46B
Aug 17 1318   Soyuz TM-24      Soyuz-U        Baykonur LC1?   Spaceship   47A
Aug 18 1027   Zhongxing 7      Chang Zheng 3  Xichang         Comsat      48A
Aug 21 0947   FAST             Pegasus XL     Vandenberg      Auroral     49A
Aug 29 0522   Interbol-2  )    Molniya-M      Plesetsk LC43   Auroral     50B
              Magion 5    )                                               50C
              Microsat    )                                               50A
Sep  4 0901   Kosmos-2333      Zenit-2        Baykonur LC45L  Sigint      51A
Sep  5 1347   Kosmos-2334 )    Kosmos-3M      Plesetsk LC132/1 Navsat     52A
              UNAMSat     )                                               52B
Sep  6 1737   Inmarsat III F2  Proton         Baykonur LC81   Comsat      53A
Sep  8 2149   GE-1             Atlas IIA      Canaveral LC36B Comsat      54A
Sep 11 0000   Echostar II      Ariane 42P     Kourou ELA2     Comsat      55A
Sep 12 0849   Navstar 30       Delta 7925     Canaveral LC17A Navsat      56A
Sep 16 0855   Atlantis         Shuttle        Kennedy LC39A   Spaceship   57A

Current Shuttle Processing Status

Orbiters               Location   Mission    Launch Due
                                           
OV-102 Columbia        OPF Bay 1     STS-80  Oct 31
OV-103 Discovery       OPF Bay 2     STS-82  Feb 13
OV-104 Atlantis        Mir           STS-79  
OV-105 Endeavour       Palmdale      OMDP
                                          
ML/SRB/ET/OV stacks                       
                  
ML1/
ML2/RSRM-54                VAB Bay 1      STS-79 (old)
ML3/RSRM-49                VAB Bay 3      STS-80

* indicates changes from last month's calendar
To see the full calendar, check out http://newproducts.jpl.nasa.gov/calendar/

October 1996

October 1996
  Oct ?? - Kompass Shtil-2 Submarine Launch
  Oct ?? - Bion-11 Cosmos Launch (Russia)
* Oct 15 - Progress M-33 Launch (Russia)
  Oct 01 - Asteroid 546 Herodias Occults PPM 182173 (7.6 Magnitude Star)
  Oct 02 - Asteroid 382 Dodona Occults PPM 117315 (8.6 Magnitude Star)
  Oct 03 - Mercury At Its Greatest Western Elongation (18 Degrees)
  Oct 04 - Asteroid Juno at Opposition (7.5 Magnitude)
* Oct 05 - Comet Hale-Bopp Occults PPM 200723 (9.0 Magnitude Star)
* Oct 05 - Asteroid 2393 Suzuki Occults PPM 123397 (9.0 Magnitude Star)
* Oct 07 - Comet 1996 Q1 (Tabur), Closest Approach to Earth (0.4148 AU)
  Oct 08 - Galileo, Orbital Trim Maneuver #12 (OTM-12)
  Oct 09 - Draconids Meteor Shower
* Oct 09 - Asteroid 2332 Kalm Occults PPM 145659 (9.1 Magnitude Star)
  Oct 10 - 150th Anniversary (1846), William Lassell's Discovery of Neptune's mo
on
           Triton
  Oct 12 - Partial Solar Eclipse
  Oct 13 - Asteroid 626 Notburga Occults 721360 (11.6 Magntiude Star)
  Oct 15 - Insat-2D Ariane 4 Launch
* Oct 15 - Progress M-33 Launch (Russia)
  Oct 15 - Comet Machholz 1 Perihelion
* Oct 19 - Kennedy Space Center Open House, Florida
  Oct 20 - Jupiter Occults SAO 187307 (9.1 Magnitude Star)
* Oct 20 - Asteroid 407 Arachne Occults PPM 267649 (9.0 Magnitude Star)
* Oct 21 - SAC-B/HETE Pegasus XL Launch
  Oct 21 - Orionid Meteor Shower
* Oct 21 - Asteroid 983 Gunila Occults PPM 90227 (7.0 Magnitude Star)
* Oct 21 - Asteroid 654 Zelinda Occults PPM 235167 (8.3 Magnitude Star)
  Oct 21 - Possible Mars Occultation of SAO 98819 (8.8 Magnitude Star)
  Oct 22 - 30th Anniversary (1966), Luna 12 Launch (Soviet Lunar Orbiter)
  Oct 22 - Asteroid 1989 UQ Near-Earth Flyby (0.1505 AU)
  Oct 23 - Asteroid 4947 Ninkasi Near-Earth Flby (0.2131 AU)
* Oct 23 - Asteroid 476 Hedwig Occults PPM 173424 (8.8 Magnitude Star)
  Oct 24 - 145th Anniversary (1851), William Lassell's Discovery of Uranus moons
           Umbriel and Ariel
  Oct 25 - 325th Anniversary (1671), Giovanni Cassini's Discovery of Saturn's mo
on
           Iapetus
  Oct 25 - Asteroid 4197 1982 TA Near-Earth Flyby (0.0846 AU)
  Oct 27 - Daylight Savings - Set Clock Back One Hour (USA)
  Oct 27 - Asteroid 3908 1980 PA Near-Earth Flyby (0.0613 AU)
  Oct 29 - Asteroid 243 Ida Occults GCS 18961636
  Oct 29 - Asteroid 1991 VE Near-Earth Flyby (0.0853 AU)
* Oct 29 - Comet IRAS Perihelion (1.70 AU)
  Oct 29 - Asteroid 1780 Kippes Occults PPM 70306 (7.1 Magnitude Star)
  Oct 29 - Possible Mars Occultation of SAO 98968 (8.8 Magnitude Star)
  Oct 29 - 5th Anniversary (1991), Galileo Flyby of Asteroid Gaspra
  Oct 30 - 15th Anniversary (1981), Venera 13 Launch (Soviet Venus Lander)
  Oct 31 - STS-80, Columbia, Wake Shield Facility (WSF-03)

November 1996

  Nov 01 - Galileo, Orbital Trim Maneuver #13 (OTM-13)
  Nov 02 - Comet Helin-Roman-Crockett Perihelion (3.489 AU)
  Nov 02 - Venus at Perihelion
* Nov 02 - Asteroid 584 Semiramis Occults PPM 067814 (11.2 Magnitude Star)
* Nov 03 - Comet 1996 Q1 (Tabur) Perihelion (0.84202 AU)
  Nov 04 - Galileo, 1st Callisto Flyby (Orbit 3)
  Nov 04 - Taurids Meteor Shower
  Nov 04 - 15th Anniversary (1981), Venera 14 Launch (Venus Flyby/Lander)
  Nov 05 - Asteroid 52 Europa Occults 12.0 Magnitude Star
  Nov 05 - Comet Tritton Perihelion
  Nov 05 - Fred Whipple's 90th Birthday
  Nov 06 - Mars Global Surveyor Launch (Mars Orbiter)
  Nov 06 - Galileo, Europa Observations (Orbit 3)
  Nov 06 - 30th Anniversary (1966), Lunar Orbiter 2 Launch
* Nov 08 - Jupiter Occults Galileo
* Nov 08 - STS-80, Columbia, Wake Shield Facility (WSF-03)
  Nov 08 - Edmund Halley's 340th Birthday (1656)
  Nov 09 - Galileo, Orbital Trim Maneuver #14 (OTM-14)
  Nov 09 - Comet Mrkos Perihelion (1.413 AU)
* Nov 09 - Asteroid 74 Galatea Occults PPM 236882 (9.1 Magnitude Star)
* Nov 10 - Asteroid 3596 Meriones Occults PPM 207237 (9.7 Magnitude Star)
  Nov 11 - 30th Anniversary (1966), Gemini 12 Launch
  Nov 12 - Jupiter Occults SAO 187632 (6.9 Magnitude Star)
  Nov 13 - Hot Bird 2 Atlas Launch
* Nov 13 - Arabsat 2B/Measat-2 Ariane 4 Launch
* Nov 13 - Asteroid 1074 Beljawskya Occults PPM 144149 (8.8 Magnitude Star)
  Nov 14 - Iridium-1 Launch
  Nov 14 - Jupiter Occults SAO 187669 (9.1 Magnitude Star)
  Nov 14 - 25th Anniversary (1971), Mariner 9 Mars Orbit Insertion
  Nov 14 - Andromedids Meteor Shower
  Nov 15 - Asteroid 752 Sulamitis Occults PPM 120231 (6.0 Magnitude Star)
* Nov 15 - Asteroid 838 Seraphina Occults PPM 154591 (10.1 Magnitude Star)
  Nov 16 - Mars '96 Launch (Russia)
* Nov 16 - 30th Anniversary (1966), Leonids Meteor Storm
  Nov 17 - Leonids Meteor Shower
  Nov 20 - Asteroid Interamnia at Opposition
  Nov 21 - Mars Global Surveyor, Trajectory Correction Maneuver #1 (TCM-1)
  Nov 23 - Asteroid 1993WD Near-Earth Flyby (0.2466 AU)
  Nov 23 - Asteroid Davida at Opposition
  Nov 25 - Asteroid 1177 Gonnessia Occults PPM 181208 (7.5 Magnitude Star)
  Nov 27 - Galileo, Orbital Trim Maneuver #15 (OTM-15)
  Nov 27 - 25th Anniversary (1971), Mars 2 Mars Orbit Insertion/Lander Crash
           (Soviet Union)
  Nov 29 - Asteroid 4179 Toutatis Near-Earth Flyby (0.0354 AU)
  Nov 29 - 35th Anniversary (1961), Mercury Atlas 5 Launch (Enos the Chimp)