Subject: [SLR-Mail] No. 114: GFO-1 Tracking Begins From: Scott Wetzel ******************************************************************************** SLR Electronic Mail 1998-04-23 10:00:00 UTC Message No. 114 ******************************************************************************** Author: Scott Wetzel Subject: GFO-1 Tracking Begins Dear Colleagues, I am pleased to report to the SLR community that the tracking of GFO-1 by the global SLR community has successfully begun. To the best of our knowledge, as of April 22, 1998 at 0253 UTC, the McDonald Laser Ranging System (MLRS) was the first and second system to successfully track GFO-1. Since then, GFO-1 has been ranged to by CRL, Moblas 5 and TLRS-3. Additional tracks have not been reported as of yet but I´m confident that other SLR systems in the global community will acquire in the next few days. Returns from the satellite have been described as very strong, similar to returns from TOPEX/Poseidon. The acquisition data has also been described as good with minimal time bias and range bias applied as of this morning. Updates on mission operations will be provided as necessary. Thank you again to all the systems that have provided tracking support and are planning on supporting this mission. Best Regards Scott L. Wetzel NASA SLR Missions and Data Operations From: WetzelS@thorin.atsc.allied.com (Wetzel, Scott L.) ********************************************************************************