|
[Ed. Note: Go to http://hea-www.harvard.edu/QEDT/jcm/space/jsr/jsr.html for back isues and other information about Jonathan's Space Report.] Shuttle and MirThe Space Shuttle Orbiter OV-102 Columbia was launched at 1955:50 UTC on Nov 19 from Kennedy Space Center. The SRBs separated at 1957 UTC and main engine cutoff was at 2004 UTC. The OMS 2 burn at around 2040 UTC placed Columbia in a circular orbit. Mission STS-80 carries the Orfeus astronomy satellite, the Wake Shield Facility, and spacewalk equipment. A hold was called at 1952 UTC, T-31s just prior to entering computer RSLS control because too much hydrogen was in the aft compartment, but after a two minute pause permission was given to continue. The Orfeus satellite was deployed on Nov 20 at 0411 UTC. It carries an ultraviolet telescope and spectrographs. Wake Shield Facility was deployed on Nov 22 at 2038 UTC. OV-102, Orfeus and WSF are in a 91.6 min, 346 x 358 km x 28.5 deg orbit. Columbia retrieved WSF at 0203 UTC on Nov 26 and berthed it in the payload bay at 0236 UTC. The Progress M-33 cargo ship was successfully launched from Baykonur on Nov 19 and docked with Mir on Nov 22 at 0101 UTC. Progress M-32 undocked from Mir at 1944 UTC on Nov 20 and was deorbited over the Pacific at 2242 UTC. Recent LaunchesThe Russian Mars-96 space probe mission failed to leave Earth orbit on Nov 17. This failure is very sad news both for Mars exploration and for the Russian space program. In last week's report I said that Mars-96 got into solar orbit, based on announcements from the IKI web site which reported a successful Blok-D-2 second burn and ADU solar orbit insertion burn. However it soon emerged that their claim of success was premature. The Blok-D-2 made a successful first burn, entering a 160 km circular orbit. On the second burn, possibly because of incorrect commands sent by the probe, it burned for only a few seconds before shutting down, and the probe remained in a lower perigee Earth parking orbit of 145 x 171 km x 51.6 deg. Mars-96 separated from the Blok-D-2 and fired its own ADU engine, entering an elliptical 87 x 1500 km orbit. It made two revolutions of the Earth in this orbit and reentered a few hours later, somewhere over the South Pacific, at around 0132 UTC Nov 17. This piece, the M1 No. 520 probe with the two MAS landers and two Penetrator probes, was tracked by Russian radars but missed by US Space Command. The Blok-D-2 rocket stage reentered over the South Pacific at 31 S 96 W (US data) or 50.9 S 168 W (Russian data) a day later, at 0120 UTC Nov 18. The excitement on Sunday about possible radioactive debris reentering over Australia or Chile was apparently misplaced, since the payload had reentered the previous day and Space Command was only tracking the rocket. [Some of these details are thanks to Igor Lissov of Videocosmos]. There were four small plutonium RTG batteries aboard the two MAS landers, with 15 g of Pu-238 each. The two penetrator probes each carried five of the RTG batteries. The RTGs were designed to survive reentry and the probability of contamination is considered low. We don't know where the probe reentered, since no-one (Russian or American) managed to determine a precise orbit for it. Some estimates say it could be anywhere from the south Pacific to the mid Atlantic. Mass of Mars-96 was 6825 kg; mass of the Blok-D-2 was 1900 kg with 12400 kg of fuel which was vented after spacecraft separation. Traditionally, Mars-96 (the prelaunch name) would have been designated Mars-8 after a successful launch. It is not yet clear whether this designation will be applied. In the old days, a failure like this would have been given a Kosmos cover name. Eutelsat's Hot Bird 2 communications satellite was launched by a Lockheed Martin Astronautics Atlas IIA from Cape Canaveral on Nov 21. The Atlas IIA was flight AC-124. Its Centaur IIA upper stage placed Hot Bird 2 in geostationary transfer orbit of 168 x 35784 km x 23.8 deg. Hot Bird 2 is a Matra Marconi Space Eurostar 2000 Plus class satellite, and carries Ku band transponders for television broadcasts to Europe. Table of Recent Launches
Date UT Name Launch Vehicle Site Mission INTL.
DES.
Oct 20 0720 FSW-2 Chang Zheng 2D Jiuquan Remote sen. 59A
Oct 24 1137 Molniya-3 Molniya-M Plesetsk Comsat 60A
Nov 4 1709 SAC-B/HETE Pegasus XL Wallops Science 61A
Nov 7 1700 MGS Delta 7925 Canaveral LC17A Mars probe 62A
Nov 13 2240 Arabsat 2B ) Ariane 44L Kourou ELA2 Comsat 63A
Measat 2 ) Comsat 63B
Nov 16 2048 Mars-96 Proton-K Baykonur LC200L Mars probe 64A
Nov 19 1955 Columbia Shuttle Kennedy LC39B Spaceship 65A
Nov 19 2320 Progress M-33 Soyuz-U Baykonir LC1 Cargo ship 66A
Nov 20 0411 ORFEUS OV-102,LEO Astronomy 65B
Nov 21 2047 Hot Bird 2 Atlas IIA Canaveral LC36B Comsat 67A
Nov 22 2038 WSF OV-102, LEO Materials 65C
Current Shuttle Processing Status
Orbiters Location Mission Launch Due
OV-102 Columbia LEO STS-80
OV-103 Discovery OPF Bay 2 STS-82 Feb 13
OV-104 Atlantis OPF Bay 3 STS-81 Jan 12
OV-105 Endeavour Palmdale OMDP
ML/SRB/ET/OV stacks
ML1/RSRM-58/ VAB Bay 3 STS-82
ML2/RSRM-54/ET-83 VAB Bay 1 STS-81
ML3/
|
|
* indicates changes from last month's calendar December 1996Dec ?? - New Kennedy Space Center Visitor Center Opens, Florida Dec ?? - Early Bird Cosmos Launch (USA/Russia) Dec ?? - Zeya Start-1 Launch Dec 02 - Mars Pathfinder Delta 2 launch (Mars Lander/Rover) Dec 02 - Asteroid 2563 Boyarchuk Occults PPM 239880 (9.9 Magnitude Star) Dec 02 - Asteroid 628 Christine Occults PPM 208874 (8.9 Magnitude Star) Dec 02 - 25th Anniversary (1971), Mars 2 Mars Orbit Insertion/Mars Landing Dec 03 - Asteroid 471 Papagena Occults PPM 98650 (10.7 Magnitude Star) Dec 03 - Asteroid 1512 Oulu Occults PPM 207747 (8.3 Magnitude Star) Dec 05 - LMV Launch * Dec 05 - Space Shuttle Columbia Returns to Earth STS-80 Dec 05 - Asteroid 324 Bamberga Occults PPM 099084 (10.6 Magnitude Star) Dec 06 - Comet Wilson-Harrington Perihelion (1.000 AU) Dec 07 - Possible Mars Occultation of PPM 118840 (8.8 Magnitude Star) Dec 08 - Asteroid 4068 Menestheus Occults PPM 206100 (9.7 Magnitude Star) Dec 09 - Asteroid Kalliope at Opposition Dec 12 - Minisat-01 Pegasus XL Launch * Dec 12 - Bion-11 Cosmos Launch (Russia) Dec 13 - Geminids Meteor Shower Peak * Dec 14 - Iridium-1 Launch Dec 14 - Asteroid 134 Sophrosyne Occults PPM 206897 (8.7 Magnitude Star) Dec 14 - Tycho Brahe's 450th Birthday (1546) Dec 15 - Galileo, Orbital Trim Maneuver #16 (OTM-16) Dec 15 - Mercury At Its Greatest Eastern Elongation (20 Degrees) Dec 15 - Asteroid 279 Thule Occults PPM 097044 (9.5 Magnitude Star) Dec 15 - 30th Anniversary (1966), Dollfus' Discovery of Saturn Moon Janus Dec 16 - Griffith Park's 100th Birthday Dec 17 - Possible Mars Occultation of 86130 (9.0 Magnitude Star) Dec 18 - USAF Titan 4 Launch Dec 19 - Galileo, 1st Europa Flyby (Orbit 4) * Dec 19 - Inmarsat-3 F-3 Atlas 2 Launch Dec 20 - Progress M-34 Launch (Russia) Dec 20 - Comet Kojima Near-Jupiter Flyby (0.1440 AU) Dec 21 - Winter Solstice Dec 21 - 30th Anniversary (1966), Luna 13 Launch (Soviet Moon Lander) Dec 22 - Galileo, Orbital Trim Maneuver #17 (OTM-17) Dec 22 - Ursids Meteor Shower Peak Dec 22 - Asteroid 36 Atalante Occults PPM 206311 (8.9 Magnitude Star) Dec 25 - Asteroid 1994 WR12 Near-Earth Flyby (0.0978 AU) Dec 27 - Johannes Kepler's 425th Birthday (1571) Dec 28 - Asteroid 972 Cohnia Occults PPM 96490 (7.7 Magnitude Star) Dec 29 - Jupiter Occults 188551 (7.5 Magnitude Star) Dec 29 - Asteroid 2835 Ryoma Occults PPM 095656 (9.1 Magnitude Star) Dec 30 - Comet 1996 J1 (Evans-Drinkwater) Perihelion (1.3 AU) * Dec 31 - Asteroid 237 Coelestina Occuts PPM 094054 (9.2 Magnitude Star) January 1997Jan ?? - Clark LMLV-1 Launch Jan ?? - USAF Titan 4B Launch (1st Launch of Titan 4B) Jan ?? - VSOP-Muses-B Launch (Japan) Jan ?? - Apstar-2R Long March Launch Jan ?? - Indostar 1 Launch (Indonesia) Jan 01 - Mars Pathfinder, Trajectory Correction Maneuver #1 (TCM-1) Jan 03 - Earth at Perihelion (0.983 AU From Sun) Jan 03 - Quadrantids Meteor Shower Peak Jan 04 - Galileo, Orbital Trim Maneuver #18 (OTM-18) Jan 09 - Jupiter Passes 0.8 Degrees from Neptune Jan 10 - Galileo, Solar Conjunction Begins Jan 10 - Asteroid 1991 VK Near-Earth Flyby (0.0749 AU) Jan 11 - 210th Anniversary (1787), William Herschel's Discovery of Uranus Moons Titania and Oberon Jan 12 - STS-81 Launch, Atlantis, 5th Shuttle-Mir Mission, SPACEHAB Jan 12 - Comet Shoemaker-Levy 4 Perihelion (2.02 AU) Jan 12 - Mercury Passes 2.7 Degrees North of Venus Jan 16 - GPS-2 Delta 2 Launch Jan 16 - Asteroid 3 Juno Occults 9.3 Magnitude Star Jan 20 - Galileo, Europa Flyby (Orbit 5) Jan 20 - Comet Hale-Bopp Crosses the Orbit of Mars Jan 21 - Asteroid 1994 PC1 Near-Earth Flyby (0.0651 AU) Jan 22 - 5th Anniversary (1992), STS-42 Launch (Columbia), International Microgravity Lab Jan 23 - Iridium-2 Delta 2 Launch Jan 24 - Asteroid 16 Psyche Occults 7.7 Magnitude Star Jan 24 - Mercury At Its Greatest Western Elongation (24 Degrees) Jan 25 - Asteroid 1989 UQ Near-Earth Flyby (0.2286 AU) Jan 27 - 30th Anniversary (1967), Apollo 1 Fire * Jan 28 - Nahuel-1A/GE-2 Ariane 4 Launch Jan 28 - Galileo, Solar Conjunction Ends Jan 28 - Mars Occults 7.2 Magnitude Star Jan 29 - Minuteman III Launch Jan 30 - Comet 1996 R2 (Lagerkvist) Perihelion (2.4783 AU) Jan 31 - Mars Pathfinder, Trajectory Correction Maneuver #2 (TCM-2) Jan 31 - JCSAT-4 Atlas-2AS Launch Jan 31 - Possible Mercury Occultation of SAO 187956 (9.3 Magnitude Star) |
[Previous Section: NSS News]
[Table of Contents] [SpaceViews Forum]