"Gary Mayfield" gary_mayfield@hotmail.com wrote:
I believe AMSAT still has program to generate keps for the moon at
The AMSAT web site calls these pseudo-Keps, because the NORAD orbital models just don't apply to the Earth-Moon system.
Among other things, the Moon's mass is far larger than any satellite, and its orbit is affected by the Sun far more than any satellite the NORAD models are intended to track.
And now for something completely different: I recently bought Connections on DVD, and in one episode James Burke started with a wonder of modern technology, a satellite navigation system. It appeared to be a Transit receiver (no GPS in 1978), and was quite the contraption: two big boxes, one little one, a wild looking VHF/UHF antenna and lots of cables.
The Transit satellites are still up there, but they don't use them for navigation any more.
Laura Halliday VE7LDH "Que les nuages soient notre Grid: CN89mg pied a terre..." ICBM: 49 16.05 N 122 56.92 W - Hospital/Shafte
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