[FPSPACE] RE: The big dive

[Woods, Dave]

This brings up some questions about the reentry itself.  It sounds like 
they have the final orbital geometry selected.  Because the orbital
plane is effectively fixed in space, this flight path will approximately
repeat once per day, so the exact day has not been defined by this.

I am wondering what the lighting conditions will be for the reentry:
day or night time.  Also, what will the spacial orientation be for the
station for reentry?  I assume the velocity vector will coincide with
the core module axis, but will it be Kvant-1 ahead or behind?  I would
assume that the solar arrays will provide some drag, so if it was
Kvant-1 end ahead, that would be the more stable attitude.  The
determining factor will be the last Progress vehicle to perform the
last burn.  That will be a retro burn, opposite to the velocity vector
and no time afterwards for a station 180 deg rotation.  

So two questions:
1. Will the reentry be daytime or night?
2. What will the station attitude be during reentry?

Dave

> -----Original Message-----
> From:	Raoul Lannoy [SMTP:raoul.lannoy@pandora.be]
> Sent:	Monday, December 18, 2000 11:11 AM
> To:	1Friends and partners in space
> Subject:	[FPSPACE] The big dive
> 
> Hello!
> There's an interesting article in french from Jean Etienne (at Geoman) I
> found worth translating for you:
> According to J Loftus (JSC director), Mir is still in good enough shape to
> be controled. NORAD will help Russia for the last moments.
> A Progress M1 will dock to Mir, end of january. Progress-243 will also
> remain docked to Mir. During several days, synchronized engine ignitions
> (from both Progresses) will slowly lower Mir's orbit up to a critical
> point,
> an orbit with a 170 km  perigee.
> When Mir flies over Africa, Progress M1 will ignite its engines one last
> time, for 800 seconds. When, a few minutes later, Mir passes over Russia,
> during its apogee, controlers will fine-tune its orbit. Then Mir will get
> towards its perigee, flying successively over Australia, New-Zealand and
> the
> Marquise islands and aim towards the Pacific ocean. Contact with the
> atmosphere should occur above a totally inhabited area 200km wide, 6,000
> km
> long.
> Raoul Lannoy
> Nerviersstraat 19
> 2018   Antwerpen, Belgium
> Tel: 32.3.288.55.67  GSM:0486.89.24.61
> 51d12m25sN-4d25m21sE
> http://membres.tripod.fr/Ad_Astra/index-11.html
> http://users.pandora.be/raoul.lannoy/index.htm