All information in this publication was received between 1 May 2002 and 31 May 2002.
COSPAR/WWAS USSPACECOM SPACECRAFT LAUNCH
INT.ID CAT. # NAME DATE (UT)
--------------------------------------------------------
2002-026A (27436) Cosmos 2389 28 May 2002
2002-025A (27434) OFEQ 5 28 May 2002
2002-024B (27431) Payload B 15 May 2002
2002-024A (27430) Payload A 15 May 2002
2002-023A (27426) DirecTV 5 07 May 2002
2002-022A (27424) Aqua 04 May 2002
2002-021A (27421) SPOT 5 04 May 2002
| 2002-026A | Cosmos 2389 is a Russian military communications spacecraft that was launched by a Cosmos-3M rocket from Plesetsk at 18:15 UT on 28 May 2002. Initial orbital parameters were period 105 min, apogee 1,017 km, perigee 950 km, and inclination 83°. |
|---|---|
| 2002-025A | OFEQ 5 is an Israeli military photo-reconnaissance satellite that was launched westward (i.e., retrograde) from Palmahim Beach AFB on the Mediterranean coast by a Shavit rocket at 14:55 UT on 28 May 2002. The initial orbital parameters were period 96 min, apogee 770 km, perigee 369 km, and inclination 143.5°. |
| 2002-024A, 2002-024B | Payload A and Payload B
are the tentative USSPACECOM names for the two Chinese
(PRC) satellites that were launched by a Long March 4B rocket from
Taiyuan Launch Center on 15 May 2002 at 01:50 UT. (There are three
operational launch centers in China: Jiuquan in Gansu province in
the northwest, Taiyuan in Shanxi province in the north, and Xichang
in Sichuan province in the southwest.) One of them is the weather
satellite Fengyun 1D (meaning Wind and Cloud 1D), and the other is
Haiyang 1 (Marine 1).
The 428 kg Fengyun 1D carries an Earth Imager that will digitally photograph clouds, rivers and, lakes and forewarn river floods and sand storms. The 360 kg Haiyang 1 carries an Ocean Imager in several visible and infrared bands to study ocean temperature, chlorophyll concentration, sedimentation, and ecology. The analysis will involve auxilliary data from buoys, marine planes and coastal observation stations. The initial orbital parameters of both were very close: period 102.2 min, apogee 872 km, perigee 851 km, and inclination 98.8°. |
| 2002-023A | DirecTV 5 is an American geosynchronous communications spacecraft that was launched by a Proton-K rocket from Baikonur at 17:00 UT on 7 May 2002. The 4.3 tonne (with fuel) spacecraft will provide digital television to North American subscribers after parking over 119° W longitude through its 32 Ku-band transponders. |
| 2002-022A | Aqua
(previously named EOS PM-1) is a major American (NASA)
hydrology satellite that was launched by a Delta 2 rocket from
Vandenberg AFB at 09:55 UT on 4 May 2002. With dimensions 4.8 m x
8.4 m x 16.7 m (including solar sails), mass of 1.75 tonnes, and
power of 4.86 kW, it carries six instrument packages of additional
mass of 1.08 tonne to study the global water cycle in the oceans,
ice caps, land masses and the atmosphere. The Project Scientist is
Claire Parkinson and the Project Manager is Phil Sabelhaus, both at
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. Data will be distributed through
the various DAACs (Distributed Active Archive Center). The URL for
the Aqua mission is
http://aqua.nasa.gov/.
AMSR/E (Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer/EOS) is a 324 kg, 350 W, Japanese (NASDA) instrument that remote-senses all segments of the globe in six discrete frequencies in the 6.9-89.0 GHz range. With dual polarization capability through the multiple horns on a 1.6 meter diameter dish, it carries 12 channels of data, with a spatial resolution of 5.4 km. The scan is conical with a cone angle of 55° and at a rate of 40 rpm. The Team Leader is Akira Shibata. The data will be distributed through the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA. The URL, http://wwwghcc.msfc.nasa.gov/AMSR provides further details. MODIS (MODerate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) is a 229 kg, 163 W NASA/GSFC instrument that views the land and oceans in 36 spectral bands covering the range 0.4-14 microns, at a spatial resolution of a few hundred meters. The Team Leader is Vince Salomonson of NASA/GSFC. The data will be distributed by the EROS Data Center, USGS, Sioux Falls, SD, USA. The URL, http://ltpwww.gsfc.nasa.gov/MODIS provides additional information. AMSU (Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit) is a NASA/GSFC sponsored 100 kg, 125 W instrument that monitors atmospheric temperature and humidity in 15 bands covering the 50-89 GHz range, at a horizontal spatial resolution of 40 km. The Team Leader is Moustafa Chahine, JPL. The data will be distributed through the GSFC-DAAC, NASA, Greenbelt, MD., USA. The URL, http://orbit-net.nesdis.noaa.gov/crad/st/amsuclimate/amsu.html provides additional information. AIRS (Atmospheric Infrared Sounder) is a 156 kg, 256 W NASA/JPL instrument that measures global temperatures, cloud properties and radiated flux in 2,300 spectral bands covering wavelengths in the 0.4-1.7 and 3.4-15.4 micron ranges. Altitude resolution is 1 km and the temperature accuracy is at 1.0 K. The Team Leader is Moustafa Chahine, JPL. The data will be distributed through the GSFC-DAAC, NASA, Greenbelt, MD. USA. The URL, http://www-airs.jpl.nasa.gov/ provides additional information. HSB (Humidity Sounder from Brazil) is an INPE/Brazil, 66 kg, 85 W instrument that measures atmospheric humidity in four frequency channels at a horizontal spatial resolution of 13.5 km. One channel is at 150 GHz and three are near 183 GHz. The Team Leader is Moustafa Chahine, JPL. The data will be distributed through the GSFC-DAAC, NASA, Greenbelt, MD., USA. For more details see, http://aqua.nasa.gov/. CERES (Clouds and Earth Radiant Energy System) is a NASA/LaRC, 100 kg, 104 W instrument that monitors radiated energy flux in the 0.3-5.0, 8-12, and 03-50 micron range, at a spatial resolution of 20 km. The Team Leader is Bruce Wielicki, LaRC. The data will be distributed through the Langley-DAAC, LaRC, NASA, Hampton, VA, USA. The URL, http://asd-www.larc.nasa.gov/ceres/ASDceres.html provides additinal data. The initial orbital parameters of AQUA were period 98.4 min, apogee 686 km, perigee 673 km, and inclination 98.2°. |
| 2002-021A | SPOT 5 is a French (CNES), Earth-imaging, three tonne satellite that was launched by an Ariane 42P rocket from Kourou at 00:31 UT on 4 May 2002. Its planar and stereoscopic relief images at about three meter resolution will be marketed for civilian and military uses, for cartographic and vegetation analyses. Panchromatic (at 2.5 m resolution) as well as multispectral images (at 10 m resolution) could be obtained. The position of the satellite, and hence the location of the images could be determined at 15 m accuracy by means of the DORIS position determination instrument. Extensive information on the instruments and data products is available via http://www.spotimage.com/home/. The initial orbital parameters were period 101.4 min, apogee 826 km, perigee 825 km, and inclination 98.8°. |
Note: The full list appeared in SPX 545. The list will not be repeated in future issues until significantly revised again.
High precision (<20 cm) GPS constellation tracking data obtained from the network of about 400 dedicated global stations that are of interest to geodetic study may be obtained through the following services provided by the International GNSS Service (IGS). The IGS is a service of the International Association of Geodesy (IAG).
FTP: igscb.jpl.nasa.gov [directory /igscb]
WWW: http://igscb.jpl.nasa.gov/
E-mail: igscb@cobra.jpl.nasa.gov
The standard format of the GPS situation appeared in SPACEWARN Bulletin No. 518.
It will not be repeated since an excellent source of trajectory- and science-related GPS
information is at:
http://www.colorado.edu/geography/gcraft/notes/gps/gps_f.html
It provides many links to GPS related databases.
All GLONASS spacecraft are in the general Cosmos series. The Cosmos numbers invoked by USSPACECOM have often differed from the numbers (NNNN) associated in Russia; when different, the USSPACECOM Cosmos numbers are shown in parentheses. The corresponding GLONASS numbers are Russian numbers, followed by the numbers in parentheses that are sometimes attributed to them outside Russia.
The operating frequencies in MHz are computed from the channel number K. Frequencies (MHz) = 1602.0 + 0.5625K and L2 = 1246.0 + 0.4375K.
The standard format of the GLONASS situation last appeared in SPACEWARN Bulletin No. 545. It will not be repeated in view of the excellent updated source at: http://www.glonass-ianc.rsa.ru/ maintained by the Information-Analytical Center (IAC), Russian Space Agency.
The latest addition to the GLONASS fleet are Cosmos 2380, Cosmos 2381, and Cosmos 2382.
See http://www.space-track.org/perl/bulk_files.pl. Users must register. Conditions apply.
Designations Common Name Decay Date (2002) 1997-018B (24780) R/B Pegasus 20 May 1971-052A (05281) COSMOS 426 11 May 1966-026B (02129) R/B Thor Altair 10 May 2002-023B (27427) R/B(1) Proton-K 09 May 1995-045F (23661) R/B(Aux) Proton-K 08 May 2001-048A (26955) SOYUZ-TM 33 05 May
See http://www.space-track.org/perl/60day_decay_predict.pl. Users must register for access. Conditions apply
In SPX 582, it was reported that Soyuz TM-34 carried two Russian astronauts. SPX 582 has now been corrected to read that it carried a Russian and an Italian astronaut.
NSSDC/WDC for Satellite Information is an archival center for science
data from many spacecraft. Many space physics datasets are on-line for
electronic access through:
http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/space/
For off-line data, please contact the Request Office, NSSDC, Code 690.1,
NASA GSFC, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, U.S.A., for specific information
(nssdc-request@listserv.gsfc.nasa.gov).
Information on the current status of the instruments on board from the
investigators will be most welcomed. Precomputed trajectory files
and orbital parameters of many magnetospheric and heliospheric science-payload
spacecraft may be obtained from:
http://nssdcftp.gsfc.nasa.gov/miscellaneous/orbits/
Other files of interest for Earth-centered spacecraft can be generated via the URL,
http://sscweb.gsfc.nasa.gov/
Programs related to the heliospheric spacecraft trajectories can be executed
through the URL:
http://cohoweb.gsfc.nasa.gov/helios/heli.html
Magnetospheric, Planetary, and Astronomical science data from many spacecraft
may be accessed through links from the URL:
http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/
| SPACEWARN Bulletin index | About the SPACEWARN Bulletin | About Spacecraft Categories | NSSDC home page |
|---|