From: mcdowell@head-cfa.harvard.edu (Jonathan McDowell)
Subject: "Jonathan's Space Report, No. 133"
Followup-To: sci.space
Organization: Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA,  USA
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1992 23:44:09 GMT


Jonathan's Space Report 

No. 133		1992 Nov  18
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Discovery is on Pad 39A awating launch on mission STS-53. This mission
will deploy a classified reconnaissance satellite for the National
Reconnaissance Office and a group of small radar calibration satellites
called ODERACS. The mission will be commanded by David Walker.
Pilot is Robert Cabana and mission specialists are Guion Bluford,
Jim Voss and Mike Clifford.

An Ekran direct broadcasting satellite was launched by Proton from
Baykonur on Oct 30. This is the first Ekran launch since 1988; an
improved version had been expected to replace the system. By Nov 5 the
Ekran satellite was at 98.6 degrees E approaching its operational
99 E station.

As predicted, the publicity mission by a group of Russian companies
using a Resurs-F satellite was launched on Nov 15. The Vostok class
spacecraft, Resurs-500, is to commemorate the 500th anniversary of
Columbus and to drum up US investment in Russian trade. Orbit is 181 x
242 km x 82.6 degrees. The  descent craft is scheduled to land in the
ocean off Seattle, Washington.

The first successful Zenit launch in over two and a half years
occurred from Baykonur on Nov 17, after three failures in a row. It
placed a Russian military signals intelligence satellite in an 850 km
orbit inclined 71 degrees. The Zenit launch vehicle is built by NPO
Yuzhnoye in the Ukraine.

The Canadian CTA target satellite deployed from STS-52 reentered
on Nov 1. A defunct signals intelligence satellite, Kosmos-756,
reentered on Nov 5 after 17 years in space.

As usual around now, the launch rate is way down. For some reason November
is almost always a very quiet time for launches.

Launches:
Date		Payload		Rocket		From

Oct 30 1340?	Ekran		Proton		Baykonur	      74A
Oct 31 1006	CTA		-		OV-102 Columbia, LEO  70C
Nov 15 2150?	Resurs-500	Soyuz		Plesetsk	      75A
Nov 17 0750?	Kosmos-2219	Zenit		Baykonur	      76A

Reentries:
Date
Nov  1 1406	Columbia			
Nov  1		CTA
Nov  5		Kosmos-756

Current Shuttle Processing Status
____________________________________________

Orbiters               Location   Mission 
                                          
OV-102 Columbia        OPF Bay 2     STS-55
OV-103 Discovery       LC39A         STS-53
OV-104 Atlantis        Palmdale      OMDP
OV-105 Endeavour       OPF Bay 1     STS-54
                                          
ML/SRB/ET/OV stacks                       
                                          
ML1/STS-53/ET/OV-103   LC39A 
ML2/STS-54/ET	       VAB Bay 1
ML3/STS-55	       VAB Bay 3


 .-----------------------------------------------------------------------------.
 |  Jonathan McDowell                 |  phone : (617) 495-7176                |
 |  Harvard-Smithsonian Center for    |                                        |
 |   Astrophysics                     |                                        |
 |  60 Garden St, MS4                 |                                        |
 |  Cambridge MA 02138                |  inter : mcdowell@cfa.harvard.edu      |
 |  USA                               |                                        |
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