Jonathan's Space Report No. 193 1994 Apr 29 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Editorial --------- I receive a number of inquiries from readers who see this newsletter on bulletin boards about direct email subscriptions. To be added to the mailing list, just send me a message telling me that you want to be sent JSR. (As I am a human, not a mail exploder, please do not just send a one-word 'subscribe' command!). Back issues of JSR are available by FTP from sao-ftp.harvard.edu in directory pub/jcm/space/news. For real fans, I note that extensive archaelogical research among some 9-track tapes has turned up JSR 1 to 31 which were previously missing from the archive. Shuttle ------- Endeavour has been mated to the Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft at Edwards AFB, but as of Apr 29 remained unable to depart for Florida because of bad weather. The next Shuttle mission is STS-65, scheduled for July. Orbiter OV-102 Columbia will carry a Spacelab long module on the International Microgravity Lab 2 flight. SRB stacking continues for the mission in the Vehicle Assembly Building. LAUNCHES -------- Three Kosmos satellites were launched this week for the Russian Ministry of Defense. Kosmos-2278 is a heavy electronic intelligence satellite which was placed in an 800 km high orbit at an inclination of 71 degrees. The launch used a large Zenit booster; both satellite and booster were made by NPO Yuzhnoe of the Ukraine, and the launch was from the Baykonur spaceport in Kazakhstan. Kosmos-2279 is a navigation satellite in the Parus ('sail') series, built by NPO Prikladnoi Mekhaniki. The Parus satellites are analogous to the US Navy Transit spacecraft and are placed in 1000 km high orbits at an inclination of 83 degrees. Kosmos-2279 replaces Kosmos-2180, launched in 1992. The first Parus spacecraft was Kosmos-700, launched in 1974. A more advanced version with civilian applications, called Tsikada, is also launched into similar orbits. Kosmos-2280 is an advanced imaging reconnaissance satellite, probably an improved variant of the Yantar' series. It was launched into a 187 x 264 km orbit with an inclination of 70 degrees; it is expected to manoeuvre to a more circular orbit within one day and remain operational for six months to a year. Maxim Tarasenko communicates an amplification to my report on the GLONASS Uragan satellites: "NPO Prikladnoi mekhaniki of Krasnoyarsk-26 is a lead contractor for the WHOLE "Glonass" system. Uragan satellites are DESIGNED JOINTLY by NPO PM and AKO Polyot of Omsk (AKO is for AeroSpace Association - "AeroKosmicheskoye Ob'edineniye"). MANUFACTURING of the satellites is performed by AKO Polyot." Recent Launches --------------- Date UT Name Launch Vehicle Site Mission INTL. DES. Mar 2 0324 Koronas-I Tsiklon Plesetsk LC32 Solar phys 14A Mar 4 1353 Columbia Shuttle Kennedy LC39B Spaceship 15A Mar 10 0340 Navstar GPS 36) Delta 7925 Canaveral LC17 Navsat 16A SEDS 2 ) 16B Mar 13 2232 P90-5 ) Taurus Vandenberg Technology 17A DARPASAT ) Technology? 17B Mar 17 1630 Kosmos-2274 Soyuz-U Plesetsk LC43 Recon 18A Mar 22 0454 Progress M-22 Soyuz-U Baykonur LC1 Cargo 19A Apr 9 1105 Endeavour Space Shuttle Kennedy LC39A Spaceship 20A Space Radar Lab Apr 11 0749 Kosmos-2275 ) Proton/DM2 Baykonur LC81 Navigation 21A Kosmos-2276 ) Navigation 21B Kosmos-2277 ) Navigation 21C Apr 13 0604 GOES 8 Atlas Centaur I Canaveral LC36B Weather 22A Apr 23 0802 Kosmos-2278 Zenit Baykonur LC45 SIGINT 23A Apr 26 0214 Kosmos-2279 Kosmos-3M Plesetsk LC133 Navsat 24A Apr 28 1714 Kosmos-2280 Soyuz-U Baykonur LC31 Recon 25A Reentries --------- Mar 15 SEDS 2 Reentered Mar 18 Columbia Landed at KSC Mar 23 Progress M-21 Deorbited Apr 20 Endeavour Landed at Edwards AFB Current Shuttle Processing Status ____________________________________________ Orbiters Location Mission OV-102 Columbia OPF Bay 2 STS-65 OV-103 Discovery OPF Bay 3 STS-64 OV-104 Atlantis Palmdale OMDP OV-105 Endeavour Edwards AFB STS-59 ML/SRB/ET/OV stacks ML1/ ML2/ ML3/RSRM-39/ VAB Bay 1 STS-65 .-----------------------------------------------------------------------------. | Jonathan McDowell | phone : (617) 495-7176 | | Harvard-Smithsonian Center for | | | Astrophysics | | | 60 Garden St, MS4 | | | Cambridge MA 02138 | inter : jcm@urania.harvard.edu | | USA | | '-----------------------------------------------------------------------------' ,