Unlisted satellite?

[Bernie Dodge]

Can anyone identify this? A few minutes ago, at 2145 Pacific Daylight
Time, I happened to look up and saw a very bright, fast moving object
going through Ursa Major. I first saw it underneath the bend in the
handle and watched it move north until it faded out near the star at
the bottom of the dipper. It was 0 or -1 magnitude, maybe brighter,
and went to invisible over the 10 seconds or so I saw it.

The only things I've ever seen this bright were Mir or the ISS, and
the latter isn't above us right now. Could it have been a booster from
today's shuttle launch?

[Ted Molczan]

"Bernie Dodge" <bdo...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:12c2248d-9a15-468d...@u16g2000pru.googlegroups.com...

I believe you saw USA 129, one of three KeyHole imaging reconnaissance
satellites in orbit. Its international designation is 1996-072A, and its
U.S. Strategic Command catalogue number is 24680.

They are similar in size and shape to the Hubble Space Telescope.

This class of satellite often flares up in brightness, especially on passes
to the north-west.

KeyHole orbital elements are not available from official sources, but they
are regularly observed by hobbyists, who maintain accurate elements. Here is
Heavens-Above's prediction of USA 129's pass last night (July 16 PDT), using
hobbyist elements:

http://www.heavens-above.com/PassDetails.asp?lat=32.715&lng=-117.156&loc=San+Diego&alt=26&tz=PST&satid=24680&date=40011.1963192824

Ted Molczan