Jonathan's Space Report No. 285 1996 Apr 28 Cambridge, MA ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shuttle and Mir --------------- The 77KSI (TsM-I) Priroda module was launched by Proton from Baykonur on Apr 23. The 19500 kg Priroda is the final module for the Mir complex, and was built by the Krunichev factory. 77KSI carries a set of remote sensing experiments and some microgravity experiments: MSU-SK and MSU-E optical and infrared scanners OZON-M ozone profile detector ISTOK-1 infrared spectrometer MOS Imaging spectrometer, Germany ALISA LIDAR optical sounder, France IKAR-N, IKAR-D scanning and pointing microwave radiometers IKAR-P microwave radiometer TRAVERS Synthetic aperture radar operating at 9 and 23 cm MOMS-2P Stereoscopic imagers MIM Microgravity Isolation Mount, Canada On Apr 25 one of the two battery systems on Priroda failed. Priroda does not carry solar panels. Fortunately, Priroda docked with Mir at 1243 UTC on Apr 26. This is the first time one of the 77KS modules has docked on the first attempt. On Apr 27, Priroda was due to be rotated from the -X port to the +Z port. Kristall is at -Z, Kvant-2 at +Y, Spektr at -Y, and Kvant at +X. The Soyuz TM-23 craft is docked to the +X port of Kvant, and the Stikovochnoy Otsek (Docking Module) is attached at the -Z port of Kristall. Recent Launches --------------- The Midcourse Space Experiment (MSX) was launched at 1227:40 UTC on Apr 24 from Vandenberg into an 896 x 906 km x 99 deg orbit. MSX is a Ballistic Missile Defense Organization satellite which will study the infrared, visible and ultraviolet signatures of ballistic missiles in their midcourse phase (after the launch vehicle rocket plume has shut down). The main experiment on MSX is the Spirit III cryogenic infrared telescope, the first to use solid hydrogen instead of the liquid helium that has been used by infrared astronomy satellites in the past. The hydrogen will maintain the dewar at 8.5K. MSX will also perform civilian scientific research, with atmospheric observations and astronomical studies. The MSX spacecraft was built by Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Lab. MSX instruments are: SPIRIT III, 0.34m Spatial IR Imaging Telescope, 2.5 -28 microns UVISI UV and Visible Imagers and Spectrographic Imagers CIC Contamination Instrumentation Complement (to study outgassing and contamination of optical surfaces) SBV Space Based Visible camera, 0.15m telescope/CCD Titan IV K-16 was launched from Cape Canaveral on Apr 24. It was a Titan 401 variant with a Centaur upper stage, and the payload is probably a geostationary orbit signals intelligence satellite. Kosmos-2332 was launched on Apr 24. It entered a 303 x 1575 km x 83 deg orbit, characteristic of radar calibration satellites including Kosmos-1179, Kosmos-1463 and Kosmos-2265. It is believed that these satellites are spherical in shape and may be based on the Vostok/Zenit descent cabin shell. Telesat Mobile Inc. (TMI) of Canada's M-SAT satellite was launched by Ariane on Apr 20. M-SAT uses the Hughes HS-601 design, but its prime contractor was Spar Aerospace of Canada (a similar industrial partnership was used for the Anik D satellites in the 1980s in which Spar used the Hughes HS-376 design). The satellite is almost identical to the AMSC-1 satellite launched last year for American Mobile Satellite Corp., and carries L-band transponders for communications between mobile users. Table of Recent Launches ------------------------ Date UT Name Launch Vehicle Site Mission INTL. DES. Mar 9 0133 REX-II Pegasus XL L1011/Vandenberg Technol. 14A Mar 14 0711 Intelsat 707 Ariane 44LP Kourou ELA2 Comsat 15A Mar 14 1740 Kosmos-2331 Soyuz-U Plesetsk LC43/4 Recon 16A Mar 21 0453 IRS-P3 PSLV Sriharikota Rem.sensing 17A Mar 22 0813 Atlantis Shuttle Kennedy LC39B Spaceship 18A Mar 28 0021 GPS 33 Delta 7925 Canaveral LC17A Navigation 19A 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? Payloads no longer in orbit -------------------------- Mar 9 Columbia Landed at KSC Mar 12 FSW-1 capsule Reentered over Atlantic Mar 13 ODERACS IIA Reentered Mar 19 TSS-1 Reentered over Middle East? (or Atlantic?) Mar 31 Atlantis Landed at Edwards AFB 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 16 ML/SRB/ET/OV stacks ML1/RSRM-47/ET-78/OV-105 LC39B STS-77 ML2/ STS-79 ML3/RSRM-55 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.* | '-------------------------------------------------------------------------'