Orbital elements for the satellite Lageos, launched on 4 May, 1976, were generated through use of Baker-Nunn camera data. Camera observations of the apogee kick motor provided the node and perigee, the inclination and the eccentricity, while the mean anomaly and the mean motion were determined from observations of the satellite. During the month following the launch, the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and NASA laser tracking networks acquired about 110 satellite passes. The laser tracking system has been applied to a variety of orbital configurations, including elevation angles below 20 deg. Single-pass range residuals versus time were plotted for 741 laser observations of the satellite; the standard deviation of the total system noise was found to be 7 cm.


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    Title :

    Lageos orbital acquisition and initial assessment


    Contributors:

    Conference:

    Symposium on Minor Constituents and Excited Species ; 1976 ; Philadelphia, PA, US
    Symposium on Minor Constituents and Excited Species ; 1976


    Publication date :

    1977-01-01


    Type of media :

    Miscellaneous


    Type of material :

    No indication


    Language :

    English




    The Lageos satellite

    Johnson, C. W. / Lundquist, C. A. / Zurasky, J. L. | NTRS | 1976


    The LAGEOS system

    Siry, J. W. | NTRS | 1975


    Lageos assembly operation plan

    Brueger, J. | NTRS | 1975


    The Lageos-II/IRIS mission

    Murphy, James / Ibba, Roberto / Verghini, Agostino | AIAA | 1993


    Lageos Assembly Operation Plan

    J. Brueger | NTIS | 1975