ORBITAL ELEMENTS FROM THE DOPPLER TRACKING OF FOUR SATELLITES,
Abstract
Tables of orbital elements are presented for the satellite 1963 49B for which no elements have been previously published. These elements were determined with the interim gravity model. They do not being with the first perigee passage of the satellite (N = O). It has been determined from the early elements of the satellite that it wwas subject, for perhaps its first 200 revolutions, to a fluctuating force with a maximum value of about 0.5 dynes. It is believed that this force was the rate of momentum transfer arising from the sublimation of a plastic material carried on the spacecraft, and that the rate fluctuated with varying exposure of the material to sunshine. The elements for this satellite, given in Table 1, began a safe time after it was no longer possible to detect the force by the orbital behavior. In the other tables of this paper, the elements are given for the three satellites 1961 alpha eta 1, 1962 beta upsilon 1, and 1961 omicron 1 that were redetermined with the interim gravity model. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Nov 01, 1964
- Accession Number
- AD0459022
Entities
People
- Robert R. Newton
Organizations
- Johns Hopkins University