01-10-2018, 07:57 AM
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Ciderwright
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Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Burlington, WI
Posts: 633
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I saw a report from the amateur sat trackers that the 2nd stage had been sighted over east Africa venting fuel (normal) at a time/place that implied a -higher- than initially guessed orbit.
And the 2nd stage is in-orbit when it's done. Other second stages have taken weeks to months to deorbit. If it came down in the Indian Ocean, it was because of a disposal burn - also common practice.
So, if the satellite didn't separate correctly, and a pre-programmed disposal burn brought it back down, I think the 2nd stage would have re-entered long - further SE of Australia than normal - because of the extra (unplanned) mass of the satellite making the disposal burn less effective.
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