Jonathan's Space Report No. 453 2001 May 24, Cambridge, MA ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shuttle and Station -------------------- Soyuz TM-32 remains docked to the Station's Zarya nadir port. The Expedition Two crew, Usachyov, Voss and Helms, remain aboard the Station. Progress spacecraft 255 was launched on May 20 at 2233 UTC aboard the first Soyuz-FG rocket - a modified Soyuz-U with 5 percent improved perfomance from new fuel injection systems in the core and strapon engines. Vehicle 255 is named Progress M1-6 after launch, and is flying ISS supply mission 4P. It carries food and equipment including spare computer equipment for Destiny. Progress M1-6 docked with Zvezda's aft (-Y) port at 0024 UTC on May 23. The next Shuttle flight, in June, will deliver the Joint Airlock to the station. The Airlock consists of two segments - a small diameter airlock cylinder which is based on the Shuttle airlock design, with the hatch in the side of the cylinder, and a larger diameter, short length, cylinder which remains pressurized and contains storage for spacesuits and equipment, and a CBM berthing system which will connect to the Unity module. The Airlock will be used for spacewalks using both the EMU and Orlan spacesuits. The flight will also carry a Spacelab pallet with oxygen and nitrogen gas tanks for installation on the airlock exterior. Recent Launches --------------- Panamsat's PAS 10 satellite, which will replace PAS 4 in providing C-band and Ku-band television broadcasts to Africa, Asia and Europe, was launched by International Launch Services on May 15 using a Krunichev Proton-K with an Energiya Blok DM3 upper stage. PAS 10 is a Boeing BSS 601HP satellite. The National Reconnaissance Office's GeoLITE spacecraft was launched by a Boeing 7925 on May 18 into geostationary transfer orbit. GeoLITE is a TRW T-310 class satellite with a mass of about 1800 kg, probably including a solid apogee motor. The satellite carries an experimental laser communications payload and an operational UHF data relay payload. Space Command has once again interchanged the international designations of 2001-13A and 2001-14A (now Mars Odyssey and Ekran-M, respectively). Galileo reached perijove flying 450400 km above the Jovian cloud tops at 1734 UTC on 2001 May 23. Closest approach to Io was 341771 km at 1718 UTC; Europa was at 718513 km at 2351 UTC on May 23 and Ganymede was passed at 358700 km at 1120 UTC on May 24. A close 123 km pass of Callisto will occur on May 25 at around 1124 UTC, reducing Galileo's perijove on its next orbit to target it for an Io flyby. US Non-compliance with UN convention on registration of objects in outer space ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The UN Convention on the registration of outer space objects is meant to reassure member states that no-one is putting secret satellites in orbit that might be weapons of mass destruction. As a US citizen, it embarrasses me that my own country is the one with the most errors and omissions in its submissions to the UN - particularly as it appears that some of these errors represent deliberate misinformation. I therefore call attention to these errors below (and by the way, it's not as if this misinformation would actually *fool* anyone who is paying attention to the subject). Below I note US compliance with, and violations of the UN Convention on Registration for satellites launched in 1999-2000. The bulk of the information provided to the UN on classified satellites is deliberately wrong or misleading. In addition, many commercial US satellites launched on non-US launch vehicles were not registered, presumably due to sloppy record-keeping. All classified satellites in 1999-2000: 1999-017A (DSP) Orbit given is wrong. 1999-023A (Milstar) Orbit given is wrong. 2000-001A (DSCS) Orbit given is not the final orbit. 2000-001C (IABS) Orbit given is wrong. 2000-024A (DSP) Data is correct. 2000-024D (IUS) Inclination given is wrong (probably accidental typo). 2000-047A (NRO) Data is correct. 2000-065A (DSCS) Orbit given is not the final orbit. 2000-065C (IABS) Orbit given is wrong. 2000-080A (NRO) Orbit given is not the final orbit. For example, the orbit given for 1999-017A is actually the orbit of another object from the 1999-017 launch. In contrast, the data given for unclassified satellites is substantially correct, with the following exceptions (mostly US satellites launched outside US territory) 1999-014: Demosat satellite not registered (Boeing Sea Launch). 1999-012, 1999-019, 1999-031, 1999-049, 1999-058, 1999-062: 24 Globalstar satellites not registered. 1999-053A: LMI 1 satellite not registered. 2000-035A: Correctly registered, but incorrectly stated that launch was made from US territory. 2000-067A: QuickBird satellite not registered. 2000-075C: Incorrectly registered (ST/SG/SER.E/385); it is actually a Swedish satellite already registered in ST/SG/SER.E/380 by Sweden. Full details of all registration errors by all member states since the opening of the convention in 1962 may be found at http://hea-www.harvard.edu/~jcm/space/un/un_paper1.html Table of Recent Launches ----------------------- Date UT Name Launch Vehicle Site Mission INTL. DES. Apr 7 0347 Ekran-M No. 18 Proton-M Baykonur LC81/24 UHF video 14A Apr 7 1502 2001 Mars Odyssey Delta 7925 Canaveral SLC17A Mars probe 13A Apr 18 1013 GSAT-1 GSLV Sriharikota S,C band vid 15A Apr 19 1840 Endeavour ) Space Shuttle Kennedy LC39A Spaceship 16A Raffaello ) Module Canadarm-2 ) Apr 28 0737 Soyuz TM-32 Soyuz-U Baykonur LC1 Spaceship 17A May 8 2210 XM-1 Roll Zenit-3SL Odyssey, Pacific S-band radio 18A May 15 0111 PAS 10 Proton-K/DM3 Baykonur LC81/23 C/Ku video 19A May 18 1745 GeoLITE Delta 7925 Canaveral SLC17B Laser/UHF 20A May 20 2233 Progress M1-6 Soyuz-FG Baykonur LC1 Cargo 21A Current Shuttle Processing Status _________________________________ Orbiters Location Mission Launch Due OV-102 Columbia VAB Bay 4 STS-109 2001 Nov 19 HST SM-3B OV-103 Discovery OPF Bay 2 STS-105 2001 Jul 12 ISS 7A.1 OV-104 Atlantis OPF Bay 3 STS-104 2001 Jun 20? ISS 7A OV-105 Endeavour OPF Bay 1 STS-108 2001 Nov ISS UF-1 .-------------------------------------------------------------------------. | Jonathan McDowell | phone : (617) 495-7176 | | Harvard-Smithsonian Center for | | | Astrophysics | | | 60 Garden St, MS6 | | | Cambridge MA 02138 | inter : jcm@cfa.harvard.edu | | USA | jmcdowell@cfa.harvard.edu | | | | JSR: http://hea-www.harvard.edu/~jcm/space/jsr/jsr.html | | Back issues: http://hea-www.harvard.edu/~jcm/space/jsr/back | | Subscribe/unsub: mail majordomo@head-cfa.harvard.edu, (un)subscribe jsr | '-------------------------------------------------------------------------'