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Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!cmcl2!floyd!vax135!ariel!houti!hogpc!houxm!mhuxa!mhuxi!mhuxt!eagle!karn
From: karn@eagle.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.ham-radio
Subject: Oscar-10 update
Message-ID: <1017@eagle.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 22-Jun-83 15:50:31 EDT
Article-I.D.: eagle.1017
Posted: Wed Jun 22 15:50:31 1983
Date-Received: Fri, 24-Jun-83 10:43:02 EDT
Lines: 28

Things continue to improve more rapidly than expected aboard
Amsat-Oscar-10.  The sun angle is coming down so rapidly that the sun
sensor pulses are expected back by Friday.  Battery temperatures are now
spending much of their time above 0 C. In addition, the combined
effects of spin axis and orbit plane precession appear to be moving the
spin axis toward the orientation it will need for the first motor firing!
Once the sun pulses are back, it will then be possible to command the
onboard computer to do spinup and attitude maneuvers for the first
firing.

The General Beacon is now on full time, since the solar array currents
have come up enough to support it.

Some initial ranging has been done, but not enough to well determine
the orbit yet.  We're continuing to use elements provided by NORAD
last week but they seem to be slightly off.

A special software routine was written to dwell on a single solar array
in order to determine the spin rate - approximately 6.2 RPM and apparently
INCREASING by itself.

The current orbit has been analyzed and there is no need to worry over
the short term (1 month) about orbit decay.

In short, we seem to have "pulled a TDRS" (to coin a phrase); the
satellite is surviving like a real cat, always landing on its feet.

Phil Karn