Phobos Grunt drops 2 miles today, more than any other, the big drag has begun | |
Anonymous Coward User ID: 8110470 Canada 01/06/2012 02:38 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | |
Anonymous Coward User ID: 6445791 New Zealand 01/09/2012 03:49 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Because the orbit is elliptical and people freak out every time they see it head to perigee. This chart is far more informative for the purpose of monitoring orbital decay. [link to www.heavens-above.com] It looks like (by a count of the Xs) that these graphs are updated about twice per day. This means that the orbital parameters are updated then too, probably after analysing some visual observations. The updated orbital parameters are fed through to the various "trackers" like [link to www.satflare.com] or [link to www.n2yo.com] So monitoring those will not tell you any more than the graphs at [link to www.heavens-above.com] Keep an eye on those as they show the rate of change as well. |
walt
User ID: 8516293 Zambia 01/09/2012 04:38 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | the 29,100-pound spacecraft, stuffed with 8.3 tons of hydrazine fuel, will likely come down around Jan. 15, the Russian Defense Ministry has concluded. [link to www.usatoday.com] |
Anonymous Coward User ID: 8271565 Canada 01/09/2012 04:40 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | |