Tuesday, April 27, 1971
Saturday, April 10, 1971
Ferret 13
1968-086A
The 13th Ferret mission introduced the Thorad (Long Tank Thrust Augmented Thor) Agena D launch vehicle. The new vehicle has a hammerhead shroud about 2.5m in diameter. In 2016 it was revealed to be the STRAWMAN satellite, with a wide-diameter payload section mounting several antennae and three solar panels on the aft end of the Agena. Agena 2734 was the first mission. STRAWMAN had two main payloads, THRESHER and REAPER.
The additional CONVOY payload was described as a mission to 'provide high quality wide band pre-detected data on 3 frequency agile emitters'. Mass budget was 34 kg. Its design would search for, lock on to and track the three target radar types in the presence of interference. Two of the targets were DOGHOUSE (400-425 MHz) and HENHOUSE (155-163 MHz); the third was referred to as 'B', in the 800 (?) to 977 MHz range. In the mission description for CONVOY's first flight, though, DOGHOUSE was identified as the mission's target.
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1968 Oct 5 | 1120? | Launch by LTTA Thor Agena D | V |
| 1121? | Castor II SRMs sep (T+1:42?) | ||
| 1123? | Thor MECO (T+3:37?) | ||
| 1123? | Thor VECO (T+3:46?) | ||
| 1123? | Thor sep (T+3:52?) | ||
| 1123? | Agena burn (T+3:58?) | ||
| 1128? | Agena MECO (T+8:00?) | 100? x 483 x 75.0 | |
| 1154? | Agena MES-2 | ||
| 1154? | Agena MECO-2 | ||
| 1968 Oct 7 | 94.54 483 x 508 x 75.0 | ||
| 1969 Oct 2 | 94.02 462 x 479 x 75.0 | ||
| 1969 Sep 27 | End of operations | ||
| 1971 Mar 26 | Reentered | ||
Payload:
- THRESHER, 125-260, 260-530, 530-1060, 1060-2100 MHz bands for microsec to msec-pulsewidth pulsed emission and 10 Hz-10 kHz pulse rate. In TI mode, recognize specific signal patterns. (AIL/)
- REAPER, 1800-3300 MHz search system for dense signal environments. Six low band (1800-2437MHz) and six high band (2400-3300 MHz) antennas (5 phase array and one spiral horn). Mass 106 kg (LTV/)