Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site allegra.UUCP
Path: utzoo!linus!security!genrad!decvax!harpo!eagle!allegra!karn
From: karn@allegra.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.ham-radio,net.columbia
Subject: STS-9 element update
Message-ID: <2075@allegra.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 7-Dec-83 10:00:37 EST
Article-I.D.: allegra.2075
Posted: Wed Dec  7 10:00:37 1983
Date-Received: Fri, 9-Dec-83 05:51:02 EST
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill
Lines: 30

Satellite: sts-9
Catalog number: 14523
Epoch time:      83341.54513838
   Wed Dec  7 13:04:59.956 1983 UTC
Element set:     MH 12-7-83
Inclination:       57.0140 deg
RA of node:       164.9430 deg
Eccentricity:    0.0005229
Arg of perigee:   326.0820 deg
Mean anomaly:      97.8970 deg
Mean motion:   16.13365400 rev/day
Decay rate:      0.0051403 rev/day^2
Epoch rev:             143
Semi major axis:  6615.400 km
Anom period:     89.254424 min
Apogee:            245.399 km
Perigee:           238.481 km
Beacon:           145.5500 mhz

This thing is coming down so fast that if they just waited for a few
days, they wouldn't have to fire retrorockets! MH 12-7-83 AOS/LOS times
for the last pass this morning showed a 45 second discrepancy with
respect to MH 12-5-83, a set only two days old, and in fact I noticed
this in my tracking of W5LFL.

With each new set, the updated times show the orbiter to be running
early with respect to each old set; this means that the drag factors
must be consistently too small.

Phil