<h2>AAS  96-118</h2><h2>OBSERVATIONS OF DEBRIS IN GEOSYNCHRONOUS ORBITS</h2><h4>A. F. Pensa, R. Sridharan, and G. E. Powell, MIT Lincoln Laboratory</h4><h2> Abstract </h2>In February 1992, the Maui GEODSS site detected the breakup of an old TITAN 4 transtage in near-synchronous orbit. Analyses of the data at Lincoln Laboratory showed that the detection occurred within ~30 minutes of the fragmentation. Targeted nodal and pinch point searches were conducted at both ETS and the GEODSS resulting in detection and identification of a total of 3 large fragments. Orbital analysis on two of these showed that, while the radar or optical cross-section did not differ, the area-to-mass ratios did differ. Estimates of relative mass could be made. Additional examples will be shown of other possible breakups in Geosynchronous orbits.<br><br>