NROL-34: Odin and Frigga

NROL-34 is slated for launch from Vandenberg on April 12th. The Atlas V 411 will launch a secret payload for the NRO: some independant analysts suspect it is a Trumpet SIGINT (of the same type as USA 184 and USA 200), to be launched into a Molniya type orbit.

The mission patch (below) shows the Scandinavian God Odin, recognizable by the eye-patch and the raven on its shoulder. Odin goes accompanied by two raven, and offered an eye to the dwarf Mimir in order to be allowed to drink from the source of Wisdom. As a God he personifies Wisdom, Strength and Battle. Note how these topics come back in the rim text, and how "Wisdom" is a good metaphor for SIGINT:

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The battle axe could be a stylized version of a satellite with a radio dish (e.g., SIGINT).

The launch patch (below) features Frigga. Frigga is the wife of Odin, and the name as such is probably attached to the launch vehicle:

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The latter patch is of very similar design to a number of other recent patches (NROL-41 FIA Radar 1, see patch here, and below; and NROL-49). I like this recent new design style, they look much better than the sometimes very generic other recent NRO and USAF Black Space patches.

Note how (as with the other mentioned designs) some letter codes are included in the blue "vermicelli" filling the Earth globe: one can recognize "NROL" (bottom), "Frigga" (top) and what could be a name, "Galth" (?), or possibly "Caltech".

Below are the two mentioned launch patches for NROL-41 and NROL-49 which show a similar design. All three have the earth globe, setting or rising sun (NROL-41 has the setting sun, and this might signify the retrograde orbit of the FIA Radar: note how NROL 49 and the NROL-34 patch have a rising sun), and a heroine/Godess (the Devil in the NROL-49 patch is female, and all patches feature female names: Gladys, Betty and Frigga); plus similar rim text designs:

click images to enlarge:

The International Space Station (ISS) crossing the sun

The International Space Station (ISS) crossed in front of the sun disc as seen from my observatory this afternoon (24 March 2011) at 11:00:16 UTC (12:00:16 CET).

I used my modest 7-cm refractor (Meade ETX-70) to capture it: I started a series of rapid images (My EOS 450D takes 3.6 images/second) one second before the predicted pass time continuing for 5 seconds, and two out of this series show the ISS silhoueted againts the sun, with solar panels recognizable. The images also show a group of sunspots.

Below images are a single shot (with detail of the ISS at full pixel level), and an image which is a combination of the two images showing the ISS (hence the ISS silhouet shows up twice).

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The telescope was equipped with a Solar Screen filter, exposure time was 1/500s at 400 ISO, eyepiece projection with a 26mm eyepiece to get a decent sized sun image (with f=350mm in the primary focus the sun disc stays a triffle too small).

Note that the telescope involved (see image below: Meade ETX-70 telescope with Canon EOS DSLR camera attached and solar filter on the lens) really is very modest: I bought it for a mere €200,- at the Lidl supermarket! The camera is 3 times as expensive as the telescope. Yet, this simple setup manages to capture it all, even though the images are perhaps not as sharp as you would like (which at least partly is due to air turbulence in the sun-heated telescope tube, by the way).

Flaring Keyholes in a moonlit sky, and a BWGS meeting

The "Supermoon" of yesterday was not my only observational target. The sky was very transparent, and hence even with this full "supermoon" low in the southeast, conditions were fine for satellite observations.

I imaged two Lacrosses and two KH-12 Keyholes: Lacrosse 3 (97-064A), Lacrosse 5 (05-016A), USA 129 (96-072A) and USA 186 (05-042A). In one of the images, Rubin 4/SL-8 (03-042B) was captured as a faint stray.

Both of the Keyholes and one of the Lacrosses (Lacrosse 3) flared: KH-12 USA 129 did so while the camera was open, yielding the picture below (note the Hyades at the bottom):

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Flare times:

USA 129: 20:29:08 UTC
USA 186: 20:14:40 UTC
Lacrosse 3: 19:52:40 UTC

Below images show Lacrosse 3 ascending and brightnening over the chimney (with Canis minor in the upper right corner: this was just before it flared), and Lacrosse 5 descending through the tail of the Big Dipper (the fuzzy arc is a reflection from a nearby lightsource):

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These observations were all done just after returning from a trip to Belgium, where we had a meeting of the BWGS (Belgian Working Group Satellites). It was a small but nice gathering (six attendants, including this author). Below some pictures showing me (left) and Leo Barhorst (right): and BWGS president Bram Dorreman (all pictures taken by Koen Geukens):

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On the agenda were amongst others the future of flash observations; the observations of flaring geostationary satellites earlier this month; while I did a very short photo-presentation on the recent PAN relocation story (see also here). Our host that day was Koen Geukens.

The March 19, 2011, "Super Full Moon"

Each few years, there is a moment that Full Moon more or less coincides with the moon's perigee, the point in it's orbit closest to Earth. This, is a "Super Full Moon" and is what happened yesterday.

To show the difference with an "average" full moon, I shot an image of the moon yesterday and combined it with an earlier image (December 20, 2010) shot with the same lens (Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar MC 180mm):

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KH-12 USA 129 and a Chinese rocket stage (CZ-2C r/b) cruising up together

Tuesday evening, the sky was very hazy and a waxing moon was high in the sky. Conditions were hence abominable, but I managed to capture both evening KH-12's, USA 129 (96-072A) and USA 186 (05-042A). The pictures are not pretty, as they are quite fogged.

The pass of USA 129 was confusing, as a second bright object close to it was moving parallel to it: at the moment of observation, I was not sure which object was the Keyhole and what the other object was! It took me rather by surprise (and as a result, I mis-aligned the camera for the second image, resulting in only one image).

It turned out to be a Chinese Long March rocket stage, a CZ-2C r/b (09-061B) from the launch of Shijian 11-01 on November 12, 2009. Below is the image, showing them cruising up together in a moon-fogged sky:

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A few days earlier, on 11 March, I observed USA 186 (05-042A), Lacrosse 5 (05-016A) and the USA 144 Decoy (99-028C). I obtained a series of images on the latter, and hopefully these can be employed for a brightness variation reconstruction again (to be reported on later, after I have had some time to do the analysis).

Lacrosse 5 was racing against an untimely field of clouds that evening, yielding this picture of a bright satellite trail and a wisp of moving cloud:

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The satellite did it's "disappearance trick" again during culmination north, reappearing very brightly for a brief period after it.

Earlier that evening, in a still mostly clouded sky, I saw METOP-A flaring brightly to at least -3 at about 20:09:20 UTC (March 11).

A farewell view of Space Shuttle Discovery

This evening in twilight (sun at -8 degrees altitude) we had a last pass of the "dynamic duo" Space Shuttle Discovery STS-133 and the International Space Station (ISS).

After it's landing tomorrow late afternoon, Discovery will be retired.

The two were well visible in a still bright blue sky, with Orion just visible. They sailed under Orion through Lepus, the Shuttle leading 37.4 seconds (about 19 degrees at culmination) in front of the ISS.

Below is one of the images I shot, using the EF 2.8/24mm lens at 4 second exposure, 200 ISO. The Shuttle is the trail on the left, ISS on the right:

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Several other European observers reported a water-dump, visible as a "comet tail" behind the Shuttle. I didn't see it from Leiden though, likely because the sky was still too bright.

The ISS and Space Shuttle Discovery STS-133

Space Shuttle Discovery STS-133 undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) on Monday, and some 6 hours later made two passes visible from my locality.

The first pass was at 18:48 local time (CET) in very deep twilight, with the sun only 4 degrees under the horizon. This meant the sky was still bright blue. A crescent moon was visible (with the ISS passing only a few degrees away from it), but almost no stars.

Nevertheless both ISS and STS-133 were well visible by the naked eye around culmination: the Shuttle was about 5 to 6 degrees in front of the ISS and slightly fainter.

A second pass, this time in a dark sky, was on an extremely low elevation of 12 degrees at 19:25:30 UTC. Yet due to the very clear sky, they were well visible by the naked eye again, truely at rooftop level:

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In the image, the two trails overlap at their ends, creating one long trail. A difference in brightness shows where the ISS trail ends.

The Shuttle and ISS were 7.27 seconds apart, at a distance of 2.5 degrees, with the Shuttle leading. This corresponds to 54.5 km separation in reality.

At the deep twilight passage, I used my Canon EOS 450D, laptop and "EOS Camera Movie Record" software to record a short movie (below), showing the crescent moon and the ISS passing near it, low in the west. The Shuttle was still too faint to be seen at that time, brightening to naked eye brightness only when it was closer to culmination.

Twice the ISS

Below are two images showing the International Space Station (ISS) pass over my observatory.

The first was made on the evening of March 3 and shows it passing between the Hyades and Pleiades. It is a stack of 3 images of 10s each.

The second was taken this evening (March 6) and is a stack of 10 images of 10s each, showing it pass under Orion and Sirius.

Lens used in both cases was an EF 2.8/24mm.

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It's geosat flare season! (1)

Around this time of the year, just before spring equinox, the sun is moving through the orbital plane of the geostationary belt. As a result, two things happen:

(1) directly opposite the sun, geostationary satellites "disappear"in the earth shadow for a while;

(2) just before that, they can flare brightly (sometimes to naked eye magnitudes).

Last two evenings I spent some time photographing the relevant part of the geostationary belt, using the EF 2.5/50mm (24 x 18 degrees FOV).

Normally, this lens has too small an aperture to capture geosats (with the exception of the very bright Mentor's). But in the geosat flare season, scores of brightening geosats turn up on the images!

Below animated GIF shows Eutelsat W4 (left) and W7 (right). Both are flaring (normally I need the Zeiss 180mm lens to capture them!), and especially W7 becomes very bright near 21:04 UTC (March 4, 2011). The animation has been made using a series of 12 images taken at approximately 2 min intervals (Canon EOS 450D + EF 2.5/50mm Macro @ F2.8, 800 ISO, 10s):



The "wobble" of W7 is not real, but an effect of small changes in the camera tilt over the series (sorry, tripod was on a bumpy field of grass).

Below image is a crop from a single photograph (one of the series that also contained both Eutelsats above) taken around 4 March 20:46 UTC showing Turksat 2A and 3A both flaring, with Turksat 3A being extremely bright (it was visible by the naked eye). Twenty minutes later, both had become invisible due to entry in the earth's shadow:

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Libya jamming Thuraya 2

In an effort to prevent dissemination of information, Khadaffi's forces in Libya are now jamming several communication satellites that serve Libya, including Thuraya, Reuters reports. (see also a press release by the Thuraya company here)

The Thuraya satellite being jammed is Thuraya 2 (2003-026A), a geosynchronous satellite located at 44 degrees East, over East Africa:

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I have imaged this satellite several times, as it's position is close to that of USA 202/Mentor 4 (09-001A). Thuraya 2 is the upper of the two objects in below image, which I shot at 8 December 2010 using the Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar MC 2.8/180mm:

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I wonder whether the jamming is not only aimed at Thuraya 2, but perhaps also at the nearby Mentor. The latter is a SIGINT satellite, and jamming it would hamper US intelligence gathering on what is currently going on within Libya (and northern Africa and the Arabian peninsula in general). It is not clear to me however whether the jamming is "local" on the Thuraya downlink over Libya, or actively aimed (in an "uplink" sense) at the satellite.

Libya was accused of jamming Thuraya 2 earlier in 2006 (see here and here).

FIA Radar 1 and a flaring Topex near the Andromeda Galaxy

In the evening of Februari 8 I observed the KH-12 Keyhole USA 129 (96-072A) which is becoming visible for my location again, and the FIA Radar 1 (10-046A).

The latter moved close to M31, the Andromeda Galaxy. In the same image is another satellite, Topex (92-052A), which is flaring (it is present in a second image too). All together, this yielded this nice image:

(click image to enlarge)

Topex was part of a joint US/French oceanographic experiment. Launched in 1992, it functioned up to 2005. With the loss of attitude control since it ceased functioning, it has started to tumble, producing flashes.

I also observed the FIA Radar 1 on February 3rd, together with the USA 144 decoy (99-028C)

Yesterday, on Februari 12th after a day full of drizzle, it unexpectedly cleared around midnight, allowing me to photograph the geostationary SIGINT satellite Mentor 2 (98-029A) which at that time was just south of Procyon:

(click image to enlarge)

NROL-27 patches

NROL-27 is slated to be launched on March 11 on a Delta IV rocket. Two patches have appeared for this classified launch so far, both featuring a Gryphon:

(click images to enlarge)

Some independant analysts believe NROL-27 will be a geostationary SDS satellite. The patches, especially the second one, tend to support that suspicion.

The Latin "Nos Suo Caelum" in the second patch means "We Connect the Heavens". This is exactly what SDS satellites do: they provide an uplink and downlink platform between other (reconnaissance) satellites and their operating centers. The red Dragon in the second patch, might indicate this new SDS will notably serve a role for SIGINT satellites (as historically, dragons in patches signify SIGINT satellites).

The Gryphon, part lion, part eagle, features in both patches. Gryphons guard treasure and possessions, and are symbols of the divine and divine power; strength, military courage and leadership. The "Custos Divini" in the first patch means "Guardian of the Divine".

Satellites near the Pleiades

Yesterday evening (Saturday 29 January) some satellites seemed to be in love with the Pleiades. In a somewhat hazy sky, I observed Lacrosse 3 (97-064A) cruising near the Pleiades and Hyades in twilight, and half an hour later watched the NOSS 3-4 duo (07-027 A & C) cruise right through the Pleiades.

Below are the resulting images. The top image of the NOSS duo cruising through the Pleiades (movement is from top to bottom, with 07-027A leading) was made using the Canon EF 100/2.8 Macro USM lens: the images of Lacrosse 3 were made using the EF 50/2.5 Macro lens.

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The FIA Radar 1 (10-046A) was imaged as well. Unlike a few nights ago, it did not flare.

The previous night had a better quality sky, so I targetted a few geostationary satellites low above the horizon. Classified geostationary targets imaged were PAN (09-047A), Mentor 2 (98-029A), Mentor 4/USA 202 (09-001A) and the Milstar 5 r/b (02-001B). A number of commercial geostationary satellites were captured as well.

Below image, taken with the Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar MC 2.8/180mm, shows PAN with the nearby commercial geostationary Yamal 202 (03-053A).

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The image below, taken with the EF 2.5/50mm Macro, shows Mentor 2, with the stars of Orion's belt and Orion's nebula M42 at left:

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I also accidentally captured a mag. +2.5 sporadic meteor in one of the images taken with the Carl Zeiss 180 mm (FOV only 5 x 7 degrees!):

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FIA Radar 1 flaring!

Yesterday evening I had a short clear window of opportunity before clouds rolled in. I tried in vain to spot Nanosail-D in deep twilight, and next targetted the FIA Radar 1 (10-046A) again.

Much to my surprise (as I had not see it do that before), it flared twice. At about 17:54:11 UTC (25 Jan) the first brief but bright flare, to mag. -1 occurred. Unfortunately, I was re-aiming the camera at that moment. The satellite flared again however, to mag. +0.5, at 17:54:37.0 UTC, and this time the camera was photographing. Below is the resulting image, and the brightness curve derived from it. It are actually two flares, as a slightly fainter flare at 17:54:35.7 preceeds the main flare.

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click diagram to enlarge

Later that evening, during a second brief period of clear sky, I imaged Mentor 2 (98-029A) in Orion.

I also observed on the 20th (The FIA Radar 1 again, and Milstar 5r (02 001B)) and the 22nd (USA 200, 08-010A), during short clear spells.

The FIA Radar, USA 179 (SDS 3-3) and more

On the 5th, 9th, 10th and on the 16th of January, the skies shortly cleared in the evening and I observed the FIA 1 Radar (10-046A) making some nice passes through the winter sky. On the 16th it was a particularly close race with clouds coming in (the last image in the series has clouds in the image frame).

Below are two images: one from the 10th showing the FIA 1 Radar passing close to the Pleiades; the other showing it passing through the alpha Persei association on Jan 16th.

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I also observed the Molniya orbit satellite USA 179 (SDS 3-3) on the 16th, which was close to the alpha Persei association too. As it was too faint for the 50mm lens, I used the Carl Zeiss Jena 180mm lens for it (brightest star in image is alpha Persei):

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Other objects observed include PAN (09-047A) on the 9th of January. It is still in the fixed position at 49.0 E where it is since December 24 (see earlier post here). That same evening, Mentor 4 (USA 202), Mentor 2 and the Milstar 5 r/b were observed as well. A flashing H2A rocket, 06-059A, was captured as a stray. On the 5th of January, the IGS R2 r/b was captured in twilight, being very fast and very bright.

OT - A Space related Patch?

As some of you know, I not only observe classified satellites - I also collect the uniform patches relating to their launch, mission, and the associated military units.

Recently I obtained the patch pictured above. The seller listed it as "space related" but without more information.

I bought it because I had a hunch it could perhaps be related to NAVSPASUR. This because of the theme of what at first sight appears to be a sailor (but on second sight could be a hamburger flipper as well...) in a southern US desert (Saguaro cactus) looking at the sky, and the "stare" (NAVSPASUR is/was a Radar "fence", i.e. a staring radar, not a tracking radar). I could be completely wrong though.

Googling for "Operation Vigilant Stare" does not yield any result. If anyone has more information regarding this patch, please drop me a note at sattrackcam * wanadoo dot nl (replace the * with an @).

PAN (no longer drifting) on January 2nd 2011

As I discovered on December 8th 2010 (see here), PAN had started to drift away from it's old position at 38.0 E on 2010 December 1st (see here).

Greg Roberts in South Africa and me in the Netherlands followed it drifting eastwards at a rate of about 0.5 degrees/day over mid-December 2010. I dropped out of the chase after December 14th, when a long period of wintery weather with snow started in the Netherlands.

On December 27th, Greg failed to recover it at the position projected by the drift rate and surmissed it had stopped drifting. He confirmed this on December 29th, when he found it in position 49.0 E. It has stayed in that stable position since.

Below diagram shows that it reached that position at 2010 December 24.2:

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Yesterday evening (2 January 2011) I managed to image PAN in it's new 49.0 E position during a short period of clearings:

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I am happy the drift has stopped, as PAN otherwise would have slowly drifted out of my reach. In it's new position, it is lower and more to the northeast in the sky for me: actually it is now quite low at an altitude of only 17.9 degrees (just above tree-top and roof-top level for my locality), 5 degrees lower in altitude and 11.3 degrees more eastward in azimuth than it was in November 2010.

Below diagram shows the change in azimuth and altitude between late November 2010 (right) and now (left).

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Summary of 2010 observations

The year has come to an end, and it is time to present the summary of observations conducted the past year.

2010 was a good year. A total of 1074 positions were determined on a total of 121 objects, on 78 observing nights. A total of 918 positions on 39 objects of these concerned classified objects.

The diagram below shows the breakdown of the number of observing nights and number of determined satellite positions per month over 2010:

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In August and November, I travelled abroad for part of the month and during those periods could not observe. October and the second half of December had very bad weather.

The diagram below shows, just for fun, all gathered positions on an RA/Dec map:

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This was the first year I added geostationary objects to my observing program: these show up well as lines of positions near declination -7 degrees.

Lists of objects observed in 2010 (click lists to enlarge):

Additional observations not included in the special interest table are observations on the flashing pattern of the Iridium 33 wreckage.

OT: (3200) Phaethon, the Geminid meteor shower parent body

This is somewhat Off-Topic as it doesn't concern satellites. It does however concern two other astronomical interests of me: meteors and asteroids.

On December 13th, the annual Geminid meteor shower peaked. Twelve days later, on December 25th, I made this image of the parent body of this meteor shower, asteroid (3200) Phaethon.

The image was made 'remotely' using the 37 cm F14 Cassegrain of Winer Observatory in Sonoita, Nevada (MPC 857). It is a stack of 4 images of 150s exposure each, spaced 20 minutes. It shows the 4 positions taken by the (moving) asteroid for each of these 4 images in this time span. As tracking was on the asteroid motion, the stars are small trails. The asteroid was about magnitude +16.

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For an interactive orbit plot of (3200) Phaethon, click here.

A second NROL-41 (FIA Radar 1) patch

Grey overcast skies and snow do not allow observations currently. South-African observations by Ian Roberts show that PAN was still drifting as off 21 December. Will be interesting to see where the drifting stops (if it continues this way, it will soon drift out of my reach).

In a week or so from now, I will be preparing my overview of 2010 observations. For now, I want to fill the weather-induced lul in observations by showing a recent addition to the patch collection.

A patch for NROL-41, the FIA Radar 1 launch (2010-046A), was shown earlier on this blog here. Recently I however acquired a second patch, which is of much better design:

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Patch designs of the black space program have become a bit generic and bland lately, perhaps as the result of this NRO Director's memo, but the NROL-41 patch above is beautiful. And, with hindsight, offering some clues (to what we now already know from our own observations).

The clue is in the heroine archer. She is aiming for the setting sun (i.e., westwards). I feel this could very well be an allusion to the unusual retrograde (westward) orbit of the FIA 1 Radar.

The purple 'vermicelli' pattern in the nighttime earth actually includes a few character combinations, i.e. acronyms, of units and organizations connected to the launch. Recognizable are amongst others 'NRO', and what appears to be '4 SLS' and 'LRS' or 'LRSW'.

It would be interesting to know what the three white stars in the patch rim signify.