SPACEWARN Activities A publication of NASA NSSDC/WDC-A-R&S and the WWAS for ISES/COSPAR (All information in this publication was received between 1 June 1998 and 30 June 1998.) A. List of New International Designations and Launch Dates (UT). (USSPACECOM Catalog numbers are in parentheses.) 1998-039A (25376) COSMOS 2359 25 Jun 1998-038A (25373) COSMOS 2358 24 Jun 1998-037A (25371) INTELSAT 805 18 Jun 1998-036F (25368) COSMOS 2357 15 Jun 1998-036E (25367) COSMOS 2356 15 Jun 1998-036D (25366) COSMOS 2355 15 Jun 1998-036C (25365) COSMOS 2354 15 Jun 1998-036B (25364) COSMOS 2353 15 Jun 1998-036A (25363) COSMOS 2352 15 Jun 1998-035A (25358) THOR 3 10 Jun 1998-034A (25356) STS 91 02 Jun B. Text of Launch Announcements. 1998-039A COSMOS 2359 is a Russian military reconnaissance spacecraft that was launched by a Soyuz-U rocket from Baikonur at 14:00 UT. The initial orbital parameters were period 89.2 min, apogee 300 km, perigee 192 km, and inclination 64.9 deg. 1998-038A COSMOS 2358 is a Russian military reconnaissance spacecraft that was launched by a Soyuz-U rocket from Plesetsk at 18:30 UT. Initial orbital parameters were period 89.5 min, apogee 334 km, perigee 167 km, and inclination 67.1 deg. 1998-037A INTELSAT 805 is the latest member of the INTELSAT fleet of geosynchronous satellites and was launched by an Atlas 2AS rocket from Cape Canaveral at 22:48 UT. It will provide voice, video, and Internet services between Europe and the Americas after parking over at about 40-W longitude. 1998-036F, COSMOS 2357, COSMOS 2356, COSMOS 2355, COSMOS 2354, COSMOS 2353, 36E,36D, and COSMOS 2352 are Russian military communications spacecraft 36C,36B that were launched by a Tsiklon-3 booster (an altered R-36M ICBM) 36A from Plesetsk cosmodrome at 23:58 UT. These six belong to the Strela-3 series. They are reported to be fully functional even though the orbits deviated from circularity. The initial orbital parameters of all six were similar: period 118 min, apogee 1,870 km, perigee 1,300 km, and inclination 82.6 deg. 1998-035A THOR 3 is a Norwegian geosynchronous communications spacecraft that was launched by a Delta 2 rocket from Cape Canaveral. It carries 14 Ku-band transponders to provide voice and video communications to Europe after parking at 1.0-W longitude. 1998-034A STS 91 is an American Shuttle spacecraft that was launched from Cape Canaveral at 22:10 UT. The main mission was to dock with MIR station and deliver goods to MIR station. It carried also a 3.5 tonne, international Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer to measure very high energy cosmic rays, and some resources for microgravity experiments. It docked with MIR at 20:58 UT on 4 June 1998, undocked at 16:02 UT on 8 June 1998, and returned to Earth at 18:00 UT on 12 June 1998. Initial orbital parameters were period 91.1 min, apogee 330 km, perigee 326 km, and inclination 51.7 deg. C. Spacecraft Particularly Suited for International Participation. 1. Spacecraft with essentially continuous radio beacons on frequencies less than 150 MHz, or higher frequencies if especially suited for ionospheric or geodetic studies. (NNSS denotes U.S. Navy Navigational Satellite System; an asterisk [*] indicates updated or new information since the last issue. Updates or corrections to the list are possible only with information from the user community.) SEE LIST IN SPX-520. THE LIST WILL REAPPEAR ONLY AFTER MAJOR UPDATES TO THE LIST ARE AVAILABLE. 2. Global Positioning System satellites useful for navigational purposes and geodetic studies. ("NNN" denotes no national name. SPACEWARN Bulletin appreciates suggestions to update this list. An asterisk [*] denotes changes in this issue. 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 URL http://www.utexas.edu/depts/grg/gcraft/notes/gps/gps.html#DODSystem. It provides many links to GPS-related data bases. The latest member of the GPS fleet is NAVSTAR 38 (1997-067A), launched on 6 November 1997. 3. Russian Global Navigational (Positioning) Spacecraft, GLONASS constellation. (SPACEWARN requests updates or additions from readers to this list. An asterisk [*] indicates updates or additions to the list.) All GLONASS spacecraft are in the general COSMOS series. The COSMOS numbers invoked by USSPACECOM have sometimes differed from the numbers (NNNN) associated in Russia. The operating frequencies in MHz are computed from the channel number K. Frequencies (MHz) are L1 = 1602.0 + 0.5625K and L2 = 1246.0 + 0.4375K. The standard format of the GLONASS situation appeared in SPX-515. It will not be repeated in view of the excellent updated source, with the URL http://www.rssi.ru/SFCSIC/glonass.html, maintained by the Coordinational Scientific Information Center (CSIC), Russian Space Forces. 4. Actual decays or landings of payload spacecraft and rocket bodies (R/B) only. No further information is available. Designations Common Name 1998 1998-039B (25377) R/B Soyuz-U 29 Jun 1998-038B (25374) R/B Soyuz-U 28 Jun 1998-027B (25328) R/B... 25 Jun 1997-082F (25109) R/B Delta-2 24 Jun 1996-062B (24649) R/B Delta-2 21 Jun 1992-006B (21874) R/B Atlas-2 18 Jun 1998-034A (25356) STS 91 Landed on 12 Jun 1998-026C (25321) R/B Long March 3 07 Jun 1997-078B (250870 R/B Atlas 2AS 03 Jun 1992-010C (21895) R/B Ariane 44L 14 May 5. Miscellaneous Items. (This section contains information or data that are entered on occasion and may not be repeated in each issue of the SPACEWARN Bulletin.) Contact with the SOHO spacecraft (1995-065A) was lost soon after a planned maneuver on 24 June 1998; it has not been re-established after a week of effort. At the request of NSSDC/WDC-A-R&S, the USSPACECOM has tracked the IMP 8 (73-078A) spacecraft and has provided two-line orbital elements. The last set of orbital elements have been of epoch 1981; the predictions from the 1981 set and the 1998 set are now being compared at the NSSDC. 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 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 FTP'ed from NSSDC's ANON_DIR:[000000.ACTIVE] and its several subdirectories. (See the last page of the bulletin for the access method; a file in the ACTIVE directory named AAREADME.DOC outlines the contents.) It can also be accessed through the WWW URL http://sscop1.gsfc.nasa.gov/ssc.html This HTML also enables executing several codes related to the orbits of many geocentric science payload spacecraft. The codes related to the heliospheric spacecraft trajectories can be executed through the URL http://nssdc/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/ =========================================================================== SPACEWARN Bulletin The bulletin is intended to serve as an international communication medium for the rapid distribution of information on satellites and space probes. The material it contains is based on guidelines in the COSPAR Guide to Rocket and Satellite Information and Data Exchange, COSPAR Transactions #8, December 1972, and various Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) resolutions. Hard copy recipients and electronic accessers are encouraged to disseminate the bulletin to interested individuals and institutions in their regions or countries. All bulletins beginning with January 1991 (SPX-447) are now available on line; the SPX number increases by one for each succeeding month (for example, the January 1993 bulletin is SPX-471). Through DECnet: At the prompt type: copy nssdca::anon_dir:[000000.active.spx]spx.471 Through FTP, at the prompt type: ftp nssdca.gsfc.nasa.gov At the next prompt type: anonymous At the PASSWORD (NSSDCA.GSFC.GOV.ANONYMOUS) prompt hit: return At the next prompt type: get anon_dir:[000000.active.spx]spx.471 spx.471 Other subdirectories in [000000.active] carry many files of interest on science payload spacecraft. The bulletin may also be accessed through the World Wide Web (WWW). The URL is http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/spacewarn/spacewarn.html. Users are urged to submit their comments and suggestions for the improvement of this bulletin to SPACEWARN Bulletin, World Data Center-A for Rockets and Satellites, Code 633, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, U.S.A. Categories of Spacecraft To improve the effectiveness of international distribution of satellite and space probe information via the SPACEWARN system, spacecraft are identified in categories according to the urgency and detail of information needed by the scientific community as follows: CATEGORY 1: Spacecraft that carry essentially continuous telemetry or radio beacons, usually on frequencies less than 150 MHz. CATEGORY 2: GPS constellation of positioning/navigational spacecraft. CATEGORY 3: GLONASS constellation of positioning/navigational spacecraft. CATEGORY 4: Occasionally, a list of bright, orbiting objects of visual magnitude 4 or brighter. The bulletin also carries launch dates, international IDs, and USSPACECOM catalog numbers, followed by a brief outline of the payload and orbital parameters, re-entry of major objects, and miscellaneous sections. These data are based on launch announcements or on information received from individuals, launching authorities, FBIS and USSPACECOM telexes, and news magazines. Launch Organization Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) Spacecraft Mission Interaction between solar wind and Martian upper atmosphere