(meteorobs) Sat re-entry - New Mexico - of possible interest to meteor observers

[Matson, Rob D.]

Hi Marco,

Excellent detective work and analysis. I guess the only remaining mystery is the specific
identification of the portions of Cosmos 2495 that reentered over CO/WY.  Given the
tremendous length (over 100 miles) of the debris cloud, and its persistence for over
30 minutes, it cannot be the result of a small object.

Solar panels are a strong possibility as these would be quite susceptible to tumbling
(as was observed in Thomas Ashcraft's video), and their fragile and friable nature
could lead to hundreds if not thousands of tiny pieces. These pieces would have
low ballistic coefficients (high surface area/mass ratio), and thus would decelerate
rapidly in the thin upper atmosphere. It could take quite a while for the resulting
low mass particles to flitter down to the troposphere and finally show up on
NEXRAD Doppler radar. And longer still to descend the final 4 or 5 km in the thicker
lower atmosphere. This nicely explains the ~30-minute delay before the debris
cloud shows up on radar, and the long persistence once it does appear.

Best wishes,
Rob

-----Original Message-----
From: meteorobs-bounces at meteorobs.org [mailto:meteorobs-bounces at meteorobs.org] On Behalf Of Marco Langbroek
Sent: Thursday, September 11, 2014 4:46 AM
To: Meteor science and meteor observing
Subject: Re: (meteorobs) Sat re-entry - New Mexico - of possible interest to meteor observers


Hi all,

I have posted an analysis giving my interpretation of the event here:

http://sattrackcam.blogspot.nl/2014/09/you-only-die-twice-confusing-end-of.html

In short: yes, debris parts of Kosmos 2495 most likely, although not the camera return module. Surviving debris decaying ~half a day after the camera return module re-entry is an element of previous Kobalt-M missions as well.

- Marco

-----
Dr Marco Langbroek  -  SatTrackCam Leiden, the Netherlands.
e-mail: sattrackcam at langbroek.org

Station (b)log: http://sattrackcam.blogspot.com
Twitter: @Marco_Langbroek
PGP key: http://tinyurl.com/kur7xm8
-----
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