Month: March 2009

TLEs – International Designator (Piece)

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This post is part of a series on understanding the meaning behind the values contained in a Two Line Element set, or Keplerian Elements. The main article is here. International Designator (Piece) This is a 3 letter code…

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TLEs – International Designator (Launch number)

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This post is part of a series on understanding the meaning behind the values contained in a Two Line Element set, or Keplerian Elements. The main article is here. International Designator (Launch Number) This is a three digit…

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TLEs – International Designator (Year)

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This post is part of a series on understanding the meaning behind the values contained in a Two Line Element set, or Keplerian Elements. The main article is here. International Designator (Year) This is a two digit number…

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TLEs – Classification

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This post is part of a series on understanding the meaning behind the values contained in a Two Line Element set, or Keplerian Elements. The main article is here. Classification This is a one character string designating the…

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TLEs – Satellite Number

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This post is part of a series on understanding the meaning behind the values contained in a Two Line Element set, or Keplerian Elements. The main article is here. Satellite Number This is a distinct incremental value is…

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TLEs – Line Number

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This post is part of a series on understanding the meaning behind the values contained in a Two Line Element set, or Keplerian Elements. The main article is here. Line Number Did you really need detail on this…

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TLEs – Satellite Name

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This post is part of a series on understanding the meaning behind the values contained in a Two Line Element set, or Keplerian Elements. The main article is here. Satellite Name Did you really need detail on this…

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Space Station Debris Collision Sensationalism

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Just a few minutes ago, the crew of the International Space Station were evacuated to a Soyuz capsule (for possible emergency reentry back to earth) due to the risk of a piece of orbital debris striking the station….

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Satellite Collision graphics in 3D

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After posting my kmz file of the Satellite Collision Debris, Tom Wagner of Iowa turned it into a 3D image. The picture has been published on spaceweather.com. Here is the image (links to spaceweather.com post).

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Understanding Satellite Two Line Element Sets

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(This page is a work in progress. It will be complete once all of the individual values are described in full.) The orbital elements of the satellites tracked by NORAD are supplied in a “Two Line Element” format….

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