Air density at heights near 300 km,from analysis of the orbit of China 2 rocket (1971-18b) |
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Authors: | CJ Brookes FCE Ryland |
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Institution: | Earth Satellite Research Unit, Department of Mathematics, University of Aston in Birmingham, England |
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Abstract: | China 2 rocket, 1971-18B, was launched on 3rd March 1971 into an orbit inclined at 69.9° to the Equator, with an initial perigee height of 265 km. Analysis of its orbit has yielded values of air density at average intervals of 6 days between July 1971 and January 1972. When corrected to a fixed height, the density exhibits a correlation with the geomagnetic index Ap and the solar 10.7-cm radiation. With values of density extending over seven months it is possible to examine a complete cycle of the semi-annual variation at a height near 300 km. The values of density, corrected for the day-to-night variation and for solar and geomagnetic activity, reveal minima in mid-August and late January; at the intervening maximum, in early November, the density is almost 40% higher than at the minima. |
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