[amsat-bb] LongJiang 1 & 2 arrive at the Moon

[Nico Janssen]

All,

You can track LongJiang 2 in its high elliptical orbit around
the Moon with GMAT using this script:
https://hamsat1.home.xs4all.nl/LongJiang2_NYC.script

This script includes the new updated orbital elements.
You can change the groundstation location from NYC to
your location under the GroundStation tab.

The output file ReportFile1.txt can be converted to a more
usable file format with this updated Python script:
https://hamsat1.home.xs4all.nl/Tracking.py
This script also calculates doppler shift.

For further information on amateur deep space tracking,
see this web page:
https://hamsat1.home.xs4all.nl/index.html

73,
Nico PA0DLO


On 25-05-18 18:25, Nico Janssen wrote:
>
> It is confirmed from China that LongJiang 2 has performed a
> successful braking maneuver, so that it is now in lunar orbit.
> No further details yet.
>
> 73, Nico
>
>>> On Fri, May 25, 2018 at 8:22 AM Nico Janssen <hamsat at xs4all.nl 
>>> <mailto:hamsat at xs4all.nl>> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>     The Chinese microsats LongJiang 1 & 2 have arrived at the Moon.
>>>     On 2018-05-25 between 14:00 and 15:00 UTC they are expected to pass
>>>     the Moon at a distance of about 300 km. At that time they should
>>>     perform a braking maneuver so that they can enter a high elliptical
>>>     300 x 9000 km orbit around the Moon. The planned orbit inclination
>>>     is unknown.
>>>
>>>     Unfortunately there is virtually no information on these satellites
>>>     coming from China. It is not clear if LJ 1 is recovered. 
>>> Telemetry is
>>>     being received from the S band downlink of LJ 2 at 2275.22 MHz.
>>>     All other information, including recent orbital data, is missing.
>>>
>>>     Note that the usual satellite tracking programs and regular TLE
>>>     data can not be used for tracking satellites near the Moon. You
>>>     really need specific deep space tracking software and orbital
>>>     elements. TLE sets for the LongJiangs that were published earlier
>>>     have no value at all now that these satellites are in the 
>>> vicinity of
>>>     the Moon. Again I would like to refer to my web page on this
>>>     subject:
>>>     https://hamsat1.home.xs4all.nl/index.html
>>>
>>>     73,
>>>     Nico PA0DLO
>>>
>>>     _______________________________________________
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>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>> to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. 
>> Opinions expressed
>> are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views 
>> of AMSAT-NA.
>> Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite 
>> program!
>> Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
>
> _______________________________________________
> Sent via AMSAT-BB at amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available
> to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. 
> Opinions expressed
> are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views 
> of AMSAT-NA.
> Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite 
> program!
> Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb