Monitors The Possibility of Phobos-Grunt Entering Republic of Indonesia

The National Space and Aviation Agency (Lapan) is closely monitoring the possible location of falling Russian space vehicle Phobos-Grunt, which is estimated to have fallen on Sunday evening or early Monday morning.

The possible atmospheric re-entry spots are the Arafura Sea, Papua, Maluku, Java and Sumatra.

Phobos-Grunt is a probe launched on Nov. 9, 2011, in a sample return mission to Phobos one of Mars’ moons. The probe failed to leave Earth’s orbit.

Lapan researcher Thomas Djamaluddin urged the public on Sunday not to panic because the final trajectory of the atmospheric re-entry could only be determined two hours before impact.

He said the debris of Phobos-Grunt could fall in various sizes, up to several hundreds kilograms in weight, covering an area up to several thousands square-kilometers.

“The probe weighs 13.2 tons, but once it enters the Earth’s atmosphere at 120-kilometers, it will be heated and then burned due to friction by the air,” he told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

“The remainder will weigh some hundreds of kilograms in various fragments which could reach the earth.”
Thomas said the certainty over whether Indonesia would be included on the final trajectory could only be achieved on Sunday evening.

Lapan, he said, could not monitor the re-entry process as the probe could not be detected using ordinary radar.
“We can only create possible trajectory based on the latest orbital data acquired from the US International Space Surveillance,” Thomas said. (nvn)

source : jakarta post

RI #1 Stopover At Madiun

Saturday morning, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono made a stopover at Iswahjudi military airbase in Madiun en route to Jakarta after a four-day working visit to East Java from January 11-14, 2012, airbase spokesman Sutrisno said.

Sutrisno said the president in Madium took his time to review the Air Combat Maneuvering Instrumentation (ACMI) facility at Iswahjudi airbase.

The Air Combat Maneuvering Instrumentation system is used by the military for aerial combat training and analysis and to record an aircraft`s in-flight data.

In the company of Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Djoko Suyanto, East Java Governor Soekarwo, and House member Eddie Baskoro, the president took a close look at the recording of F-16 Fighting Falcon exercise.

"The ACMI facility is expected to improve the professionalism of pilots in an effort to realize zero accident," Sutrisno said, adding that with the ACMI a fighter pilot would be able monitor his the movement of his flight in various formations, both in real time or in recording.

Sutrisno said the ACMI was like a "memory disk" in a sensor devise, placed in one of an aircraft`s wings.

The instrument is also used to monitor the training of F-5/Tiger and Hawk 109/209.

The training of of F-5/Tiger and Hawk 109/209 is also intended to prepare the arrival of new T-50 Golden Eagle and 24 F-16 fighter jets from the United States to replace Hawk MK-53 fighter jets.

President Yudhoyono is scheduled to return to Jakarta on Saturday afternoon.

source : antaranews