MM wrote:
The posted nasa keps are calculated before lanuch and do not seem to match very well.
Not sure which site you are looking at, but NASA provides us with remarkably good data updated as the mission goes on at:
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/SSapplications/Post/JavaSSOP/...
During last night's RAFT deployment party at AA2TX's place, we had some confusion over which element set to use. We had our kids in the next room watching NASA TV, and they were asked to give us a yell when the Shuttle's cameras showed them crossing the coast of Australia. When we heard the yell, InstantTrack's map, using an element set from the site above, showed the spacecraft not even one pixel away from the coast.
The same page shows the time (and if you are interested, the vector) of each orbital maneuver, as well as predicted keps before and after. For example there is a maneuver at 18:53 UTC today adding 2 feet per second in the direction of the orbit. I'm guessing that this maneuver is to get a little clearance from FCAL/ANDE scheduled to be deployed a half hour earlier.
Before 18:53 21 DEC 06 UTC:
SHUTTLE 1 29647U 06055A 06354.96118119 .00014500 00000-0 95600-4 0 9004 2 29647 51.6315 304.5708 0017119 8.1770 351.9673 15.81496875 1739
After 18:53 21 DEC 06 UTC: SHUTTLE 1 29647U 06055A 06355.84582753 .00014500 00000-0 95600-4 0 9012 2 29647 51.6335 299.9800 0018958 11.5381 348.6216 15.81158211 1879
Note that as the speed of the shuttle increases, the mean motion decreases and subsequent passes will be later than they would have been otherwise. Get that relationship wrong and I know a certain guy from Annapolis who will make sure to set you straight! ;-)
-Joe KM1P