Jonathan's Space Report No. 287 1996 May 16 Cambridge, MA ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shuttle and Mir --------------- Launch of mission STS-77 is scheduled for May 19. Aboard the Mir complex, the EO-21 crew continue work with the recently docked Priroda and Progress M-31 spacecraft. Erratum ------------------- In last week's issue I should have noted that new astronaut Fernando Caldiero was born in Argentina. Recent Launches --------------- A Titan 4 rocket, serial number K-22, was launched from Space Launch Complex 4-East at Vandenberg Air Force Base on May 12, and placed a classified payload in orbit. Observers speculate that it is the fourth advanced ocean surveillance triplet, replacing a payload that was lost in an Aug 1993 launch failure. It may be in an orbit with an inclination of 63 degrees. A Kometa mapping and reconnaissance payload, which would have become Kosmos-2333 if successful, was lost during the burn of the first stage of its Soyuz-U launch vehicle two minutes after launch from Baykonur. Initial reports suggest a payload fairing failure. The spacecraft was to have spent 45 days in orbit, and would have carried out the SPIN-2 mapping project for US firms as well as imaging for the Russian Ministry of Defense. The Soyuz-U vehicle is built by the TsSKB's Progress factory in Samara and has an excellent reliability record by Western standards. Ariane flight V86, a 44L model, was successfully launched on May 16. It placed in orbit the first Israeli communications satellite, AMOS, as well as a Hughes-built Palapa C comsat for Indonesia. AMOS was built by IAI (Israel Aircraft Industries). Two Ku-band beams serve the Middle East and Eastern Europe. A second AMOS will be built for the Hungarian Broadcasting Co. There are 9 transponders, and the mass of the satellite was 996 kg at launch. It will be stationed at 4 deg W. PT Satelindo's Palapa C-2 is a 2989 kg HS-601 C/Ku band hybrid comsat which will be positioned at 108 deg E over Jakarta. Table of Recent Launches ------------------------ Date UT Name Launch Vehicle Site Mission INTL. DES. Apr 3 2301 Inmarsat III F1 Atlas IIA Canaveral LC36 Comsat 20A Apr 8 2309 Astra 1F Proton-K/DM2 Baykonur Comsat 21A Apr 20 2236 M-SAT 1 Ariane 42P Kourou ELA2 Comsat 22A Apr 23 1148 Priroda Proton-K Baykonur Spaceship 23A Apr 24 1227 MSX Delta 7920 Vandenberg SLC2W Mil.tech. 24A Apr 24 1303 Kosmos-2332 Kosmos-3M Plesetsk Radar cal 25A Apr 24 2337 USA-118 Titan 401 Canaveral LC41 Sigint 26A Apr 30 0431 SAX Atlas I Canaveral LC36B Astronomy 27A May 5 0704 Progress M-31 Soyuz-U Baykonur Cargo 28A May 12 2132 USA-119? Titan 403? Vandenberg SLC4E Recon? 29A May 14 Kometa? Soyuz-U Baykonur Recon FTO May 16 0156 Palapa C2 ) Ariane 44L Kourou ELA2 Comsat 30A? AMOS ) Comsat 30B? Payloads no longer in orbit -------------------------- Current Shuttle Processing Status ____________________________________________ Orbiters Location Mission Launch Due OV-102 Columbia OPF Bay 2 STS-78 Jun 27 OV-103 Discovery Palmdale OMDP OV-104 Atlantis OPF Bay 1 STS-79 Jul 31 OV-105 Endeavour LC39B STS-77 May 19 ML/SRB/ET/OV stacks ML1/RSRM-47/ET-78/OV-105 LC39B STS-77 ML2/RSRM-54 VAB Bay 1 STS-79 ML3/RSRM-55/ET-79 VAB Bay 3 STS-78 .-------------------------------------------------------------------------. | Jonathan McDowell | phone : (617) 495-7176 | | Harvard-Smithsonian Center for | | | Astrophysics | | | 60 Garden St, MS6 | | | Cambridge MA 02138 | inter : jcm@urania.harvard.edu | | USA | jmcdowell@cfa.harvard.edu | | | | JSR: http://hea-www.harvard.edu/QEDT/jcm/space/jsr/jsr.html | | ftp://sao-ftp.harvard.edu/pub/jcm/space/news/news.* | '-------------------------------------------------------------------------'