[amsat-bb] AO-51 close approach

[Andrew Glasbrenner]

I just received a message from the US Joint Space Operations Center 
warning that AO-51 will have a close approach to another satellite, 
FORMOSAT 3-D, tomorrow morning at 1056 UTC. This just happens to be over 
the Eastern US. Predicted miss distance is 953 meters, which is over 
3000 feet. Here are the latest elements sets for both satellites:

AMSAT ECHO
1 28375U 04025K   10058.90048627  .00000037  00000-0  23393-4 0  6144
2 28375 098.0572 058.6452 0085064 068.7648 292.2602 14.40671174297770

FORMOSAT 3D
1 29050U 06011D   10059.05265027  .00001102  00000-0  26646-3 0  4565
2 29050 072.0087 081.1265 0054240 301.1173 058.4581 14.54154136208438

On this afternoon's pass I will shut off the S band transmitter and turn 
on the digital downlink at 2 watts, with telemetry transmitted every 5 
seconds. If everything goes ok and we are still in one piece, we'll get 
the repeater back on by tomorrow night. Telemetry collected tomorrow 
morning during the approach is welcome to ko4ma at amsat.org.

Let's not panic, 953 meters is a long way apart, but it's worth paying 
close attention during the approach. Good Luck AO-51.

73, Drew KO4MA
AMSAT-NA VP Operations