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Unmanned Spaceflight.com _ Earth Observations _ Upper Stages : Re-entry

Posted by: blobrana Aug 15 2007, 09:42 PM

A Delta II Stage 2 Rocket Body that was launched from the Vandenberg Air Force Base for the COSMO 1 mission on the 8th June 2007, is predicted to re-enter the Earths atmosphere on the 16th August @ 06:48 UTC ± 4.4 hours.

Predicted Decay Location 11° 04` N, 1° 34` E
Inclination 98.4°
Revolution Number 1093

TLE Data

CODE

DELTA 2 R/B
1 31599U 07023B   07227.54921531  .05218918  32407-5  34514-3 0  1848
2 31599 098.3529 068.8757 0042820 027.9764 332.4482 16.35174104 10781
1 31599U 07023B   07227.42677306  .04259024  32130-5  33342-3 0  1835
2 31599 098.3548 068.7131 0045128 028.3349 332.0314 16.33952043 10767
1 31599U 07023B   07227.36550842  .04240378  32103-5  36169-3 0  1824
2 31599 098.3548 068.6333 0045891 028.5631 331.7294 16.33417609 10759
1 31599U 07023B   07227.24295506  .05365045  32555-5  42688-3 0  1817
2 31599 098.3597 068.4721 0051518 029.4863 330.9231 16.32632022 10739
1 31599U 07023B   07226.93623086 +.03784562 +31931-5 +43686-3 0 01813
2 31599 098.3578 068.0711 0056056 029.8255 330.6209 16.30074067010687

Posted by: nprev Aug 16 2007, 12:21 AM

Oh boy! Good luck to our European friends...don't miss this if possible! I saw a booster reentry once & it's quite a show.

Posted by: ugordan Aug 16 2007, 12:32 AM

If I'm reading correctly, it'll be daylight over Spain and even more so if the reentry is one orbit later and happens to fly directly above my head. What can be expected in broad daylight?

Posted by: blobrana Aug 16 2007, 02:29 AM

Hum,
something like this meteor seen over Bogota Colombia on July 26th, 2007, at 18:10 local time...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXzgQCy1M7g

But it should be said that currently the satellite data is very unconstrained - so it could land anywhere along that orbit...

Posted by: ugordan Aug 16 2007, 02:41 AM

That "meteor" looks an awful like a jet w/ a contrail to me, especially in the photos. Way too slow for a meteor and even for orbital debris IMHO.

Posted by: dilo Aug 16 2007, 06:21 AM

Gordan you're right, is clearly a jet contrail... it happens often to see this effect at the sunset. Read also youtube comments...

Posted by: blobrana Aug 16 2007, 12:21 PM

Hum,
no fooling you guys....yes the meteor is a sunlit vapour trail...(i had been fooled by similar images like that before; but in this case in the blown up jpeg images the plane can be clearly be seen)

Anyway...

Re-entry update:
16th August @ 09:23 GMT ± 1 minute
Predicted Decay Location 59° S, 329° E
Inclination 98.3°
Revolution Number 1093

Posted by: blobrana Aug 16 2007, 02:55 PM

A Molniya-M SL-6 (Stage 3) Rocket Body that was launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome for the Molniya 1-78 mission on the 10th August 1990, is predicted to re-enter the Earths atmosphere on the 19th August @ 17:51 UTC ± 25 hours.

Predicted Decay Location 31° 48` N, 10° 48` E
Inclination 61.4°
Revolution Number 12427

TLE Data

CODE

SL-6 R/B(2)
1 20745U 90071D   07228.50588499  .25937346  17159-4  44544-3 0    94
2 20745 061.4239 095.8964 1582773 270.4675 070.0695 12.89249173123841
1 20745U 90071D   07228.03788120  .27199724  16181-4  43563-3 0    79
2 20745 061.4310 097.1048 1689604 270.2695 078.2154 12.65444992123783
1 20745U 90071D   07228.03788120  .27199724  16181-4  43563-3 0    80
2 20745 061.4310 097.1048 1689604 270.2695 078.2154 12.65444992123783
1 20745U 90071D   07227.55660042  .23183311  15033-4  45381-3 0    62
2 20745 061.4345 098.2933 1815130 270.0762 069.3532 12.36074633123728
1 20745U 90071D   07227.31281239  .23224376  14612-4  37328-3 0    53
2 20745 061.4300 098.8757 1870867 269.9180 069.5906 12.24665665123699

Posted by: ugordan Aug 16 2007, 03:00 PM

Wow, this one's an oldie. Are there going to be any more refined reentry predictions as the event approaches?

Posted by: blobrana Aug 16 2007, 06:29 PM

@ugordan
Since the SL-6 is quite large ill watch the data and post an predicted landing site nearer the time