SPACEWARN Bulletin Number 519

SPACEWARN Activities

A. List of New International Designations and Launch Dates.

1997-001A (24711) STS 81                      12 Jan 97

B. Text of Launch Announcements.

1997-001A

STS 81 is an American shuttle spacecraft that was launched from Cape Canaveral to reach the Russian space station, Mir. It docked with Mir at 04:00 UT on 15 Jaunuary 1997 and delivered 2,250 kg of oxygen, food supplies, water, equipments and an American astronaut (for a six-month stay); and took back from Mir 900 kg of scientific samples, equipments, and an American astronaut who had been on board for some months. It undocked from Mir at 02:20 UT on 20 January and landed back at Cape Canaveral on 22 January at 00:57 UT. Among other activities on STS 81 was the execution of the second KidSat program wherein middle and high school students from 15 schools could initiate commands to photograph specific locations and load them into http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/kidsat. The initial orbital parameters of the shuttle were period 92.2 min, apogee 392 km, perigee 380 km, and inclination 51.6 deg.

C. Spacecraft Particularly Suited for International Participation

Category I

1. Spacecraft with essentially continuous radio beacons on frequencies less than 150 MHz, or higher frequencies if especially suited for ionospheric or geodetic studies. To see a list select here.
2. Global Positioning System satellites useful for navigational purposes and geodetic studies. To see a list select here.
3. Russian Global Navigational (Positioning) Spacecraft, GLONASS constellation. To see a list select here.

4. Actual decays/landings of payload spacecraft and rocket bodies (R/B) only. Additional information is not available.

   Designations       Common Name                         1997
   
   1996-060B (24641)  R/B MOLNIYA 3-48                   11 Jan
   1981-105A (12915)  MOLNIYA 3-17                       09 Jan
   1996-073A (24701)  BION 2                             07 Jan
   

5. Miscellaneous Items. (This section contains information/data that are entered on occasion and may not be repeated in each issue of the SPACEWARN Bulletin.)

   1996-067A HOT BIRD 2, reported in SPX-518, has a mass of 2,800 kg and carries 20 transponders. Its parking longitude is 13 degrees, East.

   NSSDC/WDC-A-R&S is an archival center for science data from many spacecraft. Some data are on line for electronic access. Please contact the NSSDC Request Coordination Office, Code 633, NASA/GSFC, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, U.S.A., for specific information (request@nssdca.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 FTP'ed from NSSDC's ANON_DIR:[000000.ACTIVE] and its several subdirectories. (See About the SPACEWARN Bulletin for access method; a file in the ACTIVE directory named AAREADME.DOC, outlines the contents.) It can also be accessed via the WWW at:
   http://sscop1.gsfc.nasa.gov/ssc.html

   This URL also enables executing several codes related to the orbits of many geocentric science payload spacecraft. The codes related to the heliospheric spacecraft trjectories can be executed through:
   http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/space/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/

Questions/comments about the content of these pages should be directed to: The World Warning Agency for Satellites, wwas@nssdca.gsfc.nasa.gov National Space Science Data Center, Mail Code 633 NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771

NASA Official: J. H. King, joe.king@gsfc.nasa.gov
V1.0: 29 January 1997
Last Updated: 31 January 1997, EVB II