Jonathan's Space Report 28 Nov 1991 (no.96) Happy Thanksgiving Day, everyone! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Atlantis was launched on Nov 24 at 2344 UT on Mission STS-44. The DSP F16 satellite was deployed at 0602 UT Nov 25. Its IUS-14 upper stage successfully fired to place the DSP in stationary orbit. The Mir/Kvant/Sofora/Kvant-2/Kristall/Soyuz TM-13/Progress M-10 complex continues in orbit with crew Aleksandr Volkov and Sergey Krikalyov. The Kosmos-2156 spy satellite reentered on Nov 17 after a standard 59-day mission. SDIO's LOSAT-X satellite reentered on Nov 15. It operated for only 9 days after launch on Jul 4. Asteroid 1991 VG, discovered earlier this month in a solar orbit similar to that of the Earth, is probably not a terrestrial spacecraft as originally thought. Orbit analysis by Brian Marsden based on new observations by Jim Scotti shows that the only close pass to Earth during the space age was in Dec 1974 at a distance of at least 0.08AU, too far to be a space probe. The only plausible candidate in Dec 1974 was the Centaur TC-2 rocket stage, but Don Lesney of General Dynamics reports that although TC-2 did indeed enter a heliocentric orbit with about the right parameters, three hours later its engine was reignited in a test burn which rebound it to the Earth with an orbital period of 3 days. It thus became the first and so far only object to reenter Earth orbit from solar orbit. As for 1991 VG, speculation is now centering on natural explanations such as escaped Earth Trojans. ___________________________________ |Current STS status: | |Orbiters | | | |OV-102 Columbia Palmdale | |OV-103 Discovery OPF Bay 3 | |OV-104 Atlantis LEO | |OV-105 Endeavour OPF Bay 1 | | | |ML/ET/SRB stacks | | | |ML1 LC39A | |ML2 | |ML3?/STS-42 VAB Bay 1 | ----------------------------------- N.B. Information in this report is obtained from public sources and does not reflect the official views of NASA. .-----------------------------------------------------------------------------. | Jonathan McDowell | phone : (205)544-7724 | | Space Science Lab ES65 | | | NASA Marshall Space Flight Center | | | Huntsville AL 35812 | inter : mcdowell@xanth.msfc.nasa.gov | | USA | | '-----------------------------------------------------------------------------'