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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 |
| 01 August 2001 |
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All information in this publication was received between 1 July 2001 and 31 July 2001.
COSPAR/WWAS USSPACECOM SPACECRAFT LAUNCH
INT.ID CAT. # NAME DATE (2001)
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2001-032A (26873) Coronas-F 31 July
2001-031A (26871) GOES 12 23 July
2001-030A (26867) Molniya-3K 20 July
2001-029B (26864) BSat 2B 12 July
2001-029A (26863) Artemis 12 July
2001-028A (26862) STS 104 12 July
| 2001-032A | Coronas-F
(also known as Koronas-F, and AUS-SM-KF) is a Russian
solar observatory that was launched by a Tsiklon 3 rocket from
Plesetsk at 08:00 UT on 31 July 2001. The 2,260 kg (with fuel)
spacecraft will be pointing toward Sun within 10 arc-minutes to
conduct a variety of observations. In broad categories, it carries
X-ray monitors to locate sources within 1 arc-sec, radio receivers
to measure flux and polarization, and particle counters. The DIFOS instrument (Investigator: V. N. Oraevsky, IZMIRAN) is to monitor fluctuations in light intensity in six optical bands (350, 500, 650, 850, 1,100, and 1,500 nanometer) at a precision of one part in a million. The analysis will reveal a spectrum of normal mode seismic oscillations in the Sun. The SORS instrument (Investigators: S.A Pulinets, IZMIRAN, and Z. Kloss, CBK-PAN) will monitor solar radio bursts of II, III, and IV types, in the range 0.1-30 MHz, with 0.5 microvolt sensitivity and through 400 frequency channels, with a full spectrum enabled in three seconds. The ZENIT instrument (Investigator: V. N. Oraevsky, IZMIRAN) is a coronograph to monitor the corona out to six solar radii in the 750-850 nm band, at a resolution of 1 arc-min. A full scan is done in less than a minute. The SUFR instrument (Investigator: T. V. Kazachevskaya, IAG) is a UV radiometer in the 0.1-130 nm band to capture the full disk emission from the Sun, in the dynamic range 0.1-30 erg/sq-cm/sec. The VUSS instrument (Investigator: A. A. Nousinov, IAG) is designed to monitor the intensity of full-disk, 121.6 nm Lyman-Alpha line in a band of 5 nm width, with a dynamic range of 0.1-30 erg/sq-cm/sec. The DIAGENESS instrument (Investigators: Y. Silvester, CBK-PAN, and S. Boldyrev, IZMIRAN) is to scan the Sun's active regions and flares at five arc-sec resolution in the bands 29.601-33.915, 49.807- 53.721, 61.126-67.335 nm at a temporal resolution of 0.1-10 seconds. It is also to monitor the full disk X-ray emissions in the bands 2-8 keV, and 10-160 keV at a temporal resolution of about one second. The RESIK instrument (Investigator: Y. Silvester, CBK-PAB, and S. Boldyrev, IZMIRAN is a bent crystal X-ray spectrometer to monitor the bands 11.23-12.93, 12.74-14.42, 14.36-16.30, 16.53-20.29, 21.54- 24.45, 24.80-30.43, 33.69-38.79, 38.21-43.26, and 49.60-60.86 nm. The first seven bands pertain, respectively, to emissions from Ar, Mg, Si, S, Ca, Fe, K, Ni, and the last is a continuum. The IRIS experiment (Investigator: Kocharov, PTI) aims to monitor hard X-ray flares in the 2.0-200 keV energy range at temporal resolution of 0.01-2.5 seconds, with a sensitivity of 10 nanoergs/sq-cm/sec. The sensitivity in the 2-15 keV is high enough to capture microflares and precursors in a number of small width channels. The HELIKON instrument (Investigator E. P Mazets, PTI) is to capture high energy X-rays and Gamma rays in the range 10 keV-8 MeV. It carries two detectors, one pointing to the Sun and the other in the anti-solar direction to monitor the energy range in 128 channels, and with 4,096 channels to cover the lower range of 10 keV-1.0 MeV. The SKL instrument (Investigator: S. N. Kuznetsov, NIIYaF-MSU) has three components. The SONG is to measure solar Gamma rays in the 0.03-100 MeV band through a total of 250 channels, the neutrons in the range 3.0-100 MeV through five channels, and electrons in the 11-108 MeV range through six channels. The second component, MKL is to capture protons in the range 1-300 MeV, electrons in the 0.5-12 MeV, protons at >10 MeV, and electrons at >1.3 MeV. The third component, SKI-3 is to ascertain the chemical composition in the Z = 1-10 group in the 1.5-20 MeV ions. It has a channel for 1.5-19 MeV protons. The RES-K instrument (Investigator: I. A. Zhitnik (LPI) is a X-ray spectroheliograph to provide high-resolution images of the solar disk using the emission lines of FeXXIV and FeXXV in the 18.5 -18.7 nm, and the MgXII line in the 84.1-84.3 nm range. Images in the emission lines covering 1800-2050 nm and 2850-3350 nm will also be obtained by scanning the range in widths of 0.3 nm. The images will be at a spatial resolution of six arc-sec. Each full-disk image is to be produced in about six seconds. The RPS instrument (Investigator: V.M Pankov, IKI, and Yu. D. Kotov, MEPHI) is an X-ray spectrometer covering the 3-30 keV band in steps of 1.5 keV. The range includes the Fe55 line at 5.9 keV. The detector width is 0.5 sq-cm. Lastly, the SPR-N instrument (Investigator: I. Sobelman, FIAN, and S. Kuznetsov, NIIYAF) is a X-ray polarimeter to measure nonthermal/synchrotron emissions in solar flares in the energy ranges 20-40, 40-60, and 60-100 keV range at a sensitivity of one microerg/sq-cm/sec. More details may be obtained via http://www.izmiran.rssi.ru/projects/CORONAS/F/. A similar version of this observatory, Coronas-I (Koronas-I, 1994-014A) was launched in 1994, but its functionality was crippled by orientation control failure a few months after launch. [Some acronyms:- IZMIRAN: Institute of Terrestrial Magnetism, Ionosphere and Radiowave Propagation, Russia. CBK-PAN: Space Research Center, Polish Academy of Sciences. IAG: Federov Applied Geophysics Institute. PTI: Ioffe PhysicoTechnical Institute, Russia. NIIYaF-MSU: Skobeltsyn Nuclear Research Institute of Moscow State University. LPI: Lebedev Physics Institute, Russia. IKI: Space Research Institute, Russia. MEPHI: Moscow Engineering and Physics Institute. FIAN: (Probably) Physics Institute, Academy of Sciences.] The sun-synchronous orbit has a period of 94.7 min, apogee 540 km, perigee 499 km, and inclination 82.5 deg. |
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| 2001-031A | GOES 12 is an American geosynchronous weather satellite that was launched by an Atlas 2A rocket from Cape Canaveral at 07:23 UT on 23 July 2001. The 980 kg, 973 W spacecraft carries an IR imager, a "sounder", and an X-ray imager. The IR imager is a Cassegrain telescope covering five wavelength channels, 0.55-0.75, 3.80-4.00, 6.50-7.00, 10.20-11.20, and 11.50-12.50 microns. It can provide images covering 3,000 km x 3,000 km every 41 seconds, by scanning the area in 16 square kilometer sections. The "sounder" is to provide vertical distribution of temperature, moisture and ozone, by passive monitoring in 18 depth-dependent wavelengths. (Long wave IR: 14.71, 14.37, 14.06, 13.64, 13.37, 12.66, and 12.02 microns. Medium wave IR: 11.03, 9.71, 7.43, 7.02, and 6.51 microns. Short wave IR: 4.57, 4.52, 4.45, 4.13, 3.98, and 3.74 microns. There is also another band at visible wavelength 0.7 microns, just to provide pictures of cloud tops.) The sounder covers an area of 3,000 km x 3,000 km in about 42 minutes. Another instrument package named SEM (Space Environment Monitor) monitors the energetic electrons and protons in the magnetosphere and the X-rays from the Sun. The above three have been carried on the earlier GOES missions, but GOES 12 carries also an X-ray imager providing an X-ray (about 0.1-1.0 nm wavelength) picture of the solar disk. For some months, the spacecraft will be on standby, to be activated and moved to a desired longitude. The URL, http://psbsgi1.nesdis.noaa.gov:8080/EBB/ml/gsensor.html carries more information on the payloads. |
| 2001-030A | Molniya-3K (named Molniya 1-K by USSPACECOM) is a Russian military communications spacecraft that was launched by a Molniya-M rocket from Plesetsk at 00:47 UT on 20 July 2001. The initial orbital parameters of the 2 tonne spacecraft were period 12 hr, 16 min, apogee 40,811 km, perigee 255 km, and inclination 62.7 deg. |
| 2001-029B | BSat 2B was intended to be Japanese geosynchronous communications spacecraft. It was launched by an Ariane 5 rocket from Kourou at 23:58 UT on 12 July 2001. A propulsion problem in the final stage of rocket caused the 1.3 tonne satellite to orbit at a much lower altitude. Since BSAT 2B carries only one engine, an ignition of that will be inadequate to lift the orbit significantly. Currently, the orbit remains with period 317 min, apogee 17,470 km, perigee 591 km, and inclination 2.9 deg. |
| 2001-029A | Artemis was to be a European (ESA) geosynchronous communications spacecraft that was launched by an Ariane 5 rocket from Kourou at 23:58 UT on 12 July 2001. A propulsion problem in the final stage resulted in the 3.1 tonne (with fuel), 2.5 kW spacecraft ending up in a much lower orbit. It however carries two engines and adequate fuel that if ignited could elevate the orbit significantly, probably to the geosynchronous altitude. If that succeeds, it will provide voice and data communications between mobile phones in Europe and North America, and act as a relaying satellite between low-Earth orbiters and ground stations. Eventually, as part of the planned EGNOS system (to be operational by about 2010) it will provide navigation/location determination like the GPS and GLONASS fleet do. The current orbital parameters are period 318 minutes, apogee 17,545 km, perigee 596 km, and inclination 3.0 deg. |
| 2001-028A | STS 104 is an American shuttle spacecraft that was launched from Cape Canaveral at 09:04 UT on 12 July 2001. It carried a crew of five American astronauts and a major unit called ISS Airlock, and docked with the ISS at 03:08 UT on 14 July 2001. The six tonne Airlock is a pressurizable unit consisting of two cylinders of diameter four meters and a total length six meters. They were installed and secured by the crew during three EVAs. The Airlock can be pressurized by the externally mounted high pressure oxygen-nitrogen tanks, and will be the sole unit through which all future EVAs will take place. (Until now, all EVA entries/exits have been through a Russian module in ISS, with non-Russians having to wear Russian space suits.) Another payload was the "EarthKAM" of middle/high school interest. It will allow pupils to command picture-taking of chosen spots on Earth; they were expected to target 2,000 spots. The shuttle also carried out pulsed exhaust during maneuvers to enable better understanding of the formation of HF echoes from the shuttle exhaust. The echoes were obtained by ground based radars in an experiment called SIMPLEX (Shuttle Ionospheric Modification with Pulsed Local EXhaust). The shuttle landed back in Cape Canaveral at 03:39 UT on 25 July 2001. The initial orbital parameters were period 92.2 min, apogee 390 km, perigee 372 km, and inclination 51.6 deg. |
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 80 dedicated global stations that are of interest to geodetic study may be obtained through the following services provided by the International Association of Geodesy (IGS)
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 SPX-518. It will not be repeated since an excellent source of trajectory- and science-related GPS information is at http://www.utexas.edu/depts/grg/gcraft/notes/gps/gps.html#DODSystem It provides many links to GPS related databases.
All GLONASS spacecraft are in the general COSMOS series. The COSMOS numbers (nnnn) 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 appeared in SPX-545. It will not be repeated in view of the excellent updated source at: http://www.rssi.ru/SFCSIC/english.html maintained by the Coordinational Scientific Information Center (CSIC),Russian Space Forces.
A comprehensive list of visually bright objects with their two-line orbital elements is available from USSPACECOM, via a NASA URL, http://oig1.gsfc.nasa.gov/files/visible.tle. The list, however, does not include visual magnitudes, but are expected to be brighter than magnitude 5.
Designations Common Name Decay Date (2001) 1996-056B (24323) R/B Delta 2 28 July 2001-028A (26862) STS 104 Landed on 25 July 1992-043F (22048) R/B Proton 23 July 2001-013C (26739) R/B Delta 2 09 July 2001-027B (26860) R/B Delta 2 07 July 1988-022A (18980) MOLNIYA 1-72 04 July
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 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 obtained from:
ftp://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/orbits
Other files interest for Earth-centered spacecraft can be generated through the URL,
http://sscweb.gsfc.nasa.gov/
Programs related to the heliospheric spacecraft trajectories can be executed
through the URL,
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/sc-query.html
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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 |