On 8/3/11 2:52 PM, Mark L. Hammond wrote:
It will be very helpful if observers will compare AOS/LOS to the ISS (until we get Keps).
I suspect it's behind already, but by how much?
Actually, if it was deployed against the velocity vector (i.e., thrown out the back of the Russian section of the ISS) then it should appear increasingly AHEAD of the ISS. The separation maneuver dropped the altitude 1/2 orbit later to below that of the ISS, and while it climbed back up to the ISS altitude another half orbit later, it would get there before the ISS did. Then it would descend and ascend again, following a curly-q pattern relative to the ISS as it moves steadily ahead.
Its poorer ballistic coefficient vs the ISS as a whole will also cause it to move increasingly ahead of the ISS as it decays more quickly.