Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!rutgers!mailrus!ames!elan!jlo
From: jlo@elan.UUCP (Jeff Lo)
Newsgroups: sci.space.shuttle
Subject: Re: Atlantis orbit
Message-ID: <381@elan.UUCP>
Date: 17 Nov 88 19:22:44 GMT
References: <1150@scicom.alphacdc.com> <1162@cfa237.cfa250.harvard.edu>
Reply-To: jlo@elan.UUCP (Jeff Lo)
Organization: Elan Computer Group, Inc., Palo Alto, CA
Lines: 23

In article <1162@cfa237.cfa250.harvard.edu> mcdowell@cfa250.harvard.edu (Jonathan McDowell) writes:
>From article <1150@scicom.alphacdc.com>, by wats@scicom.alphacdc.com (Bruce Watson):
>> It occurred to me that the Spysat to the launched from Atlantis
>> may be going into geostationary orbit.  
>
>That's not what it's rumoured to be designed for. All the large optical
>recon craft go into LEO, the KH-9 at about 100-200 km and the KH-11
>at about 300-500 km. I would bet the KH-12 will be about 400 km
>so it will last a long time without using too much fuel.

I've read that the main reason that causes the spysats consume so
much fuel is having to dip down low to get high-res images and then
to go back to a higher orbit where there is not the problem of
atmospheric drag.

I also thought that one of the major advantages of the KH-12 over it's
predecessors is that it is designed to be refueled in orbit by the
shuttle so that fuel shouldn't be as much of a problem.
-- 
Jeff Lo
..!{ames,hplabs,uunet}!elan!jlo
Elan Computer Group, Inc.
(415) 322-2450