1963-042A
The tenth ARGON flight (A-6) was built around Agena vehicle 1601, presumably the first of a new batch, and was the first ARGON to use the Thrust Augmented Thor Agena D. KH-5 Mission 9059A was launched on 1963 Oct 29 and the SRV was recovered in mid-air over the Pacific on Nov 2-3 or possibly Nov 3-4 (some docs give rev 65 as the recovery, implying the former, while others give 'Nov 3' and one cites a GMT time on Nov 4, inconsistent with the rev 65 value. I am inclined to believe the Nov 4 time).
In addition to the ARGON camera, a set of scientific instruments to study the ionosphere were carried, and these continued transmitting until Nov 6. The mission also deployed an elint subsatellite, which appears to have been ejected not over VAFB as usual but half an orbit away.
| KH-5 Mission 9059A | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1963 Oct 29 | 2119:04 | Launch by TAT Agena D | V Pad 4 |
| 2120 | Castor sep (T+1:05) | ||
| 2121 | Thor MECO (T+2:27) | ||
| 2121 | Thor VECO (T+2:36) | ||
| 2121 | Thor sep (T+2:41) | ||
| 2122 | Agena burn (T+3:26) | ||
| 2126:35 | Agena MECO (T+7:31) | 90.9 288 x 355 x 89.9 (VCR) | |
| 2300? | P-11 subsatellite ejected | ||
| 1963 Oct 30 | 0119 | 90.80 275 x 352 x 89.9 | |
| 1963 Nov 2 | 0333 | 90.77 280 x 344 x 89.9 | |
| 1963 Nov 2 | 0500 | 90.84 279 x 345 x 89.90 (RAE) | |
| 1963 Nov 2 | 2342? | SRV sep, deorbit, rev 65 | |
| 1963 Nov 3 | 0017? | SRV recovered | |
| 1963 Nov 3 | 2358? | SRV sep, deorbit (based on 4A075 data) | |
| 1963 Nov 4 | 0039 | SRV recovered | |
| 1963 Nov 6 | End of transmissions | ||
| 1963 Nov 6 | 0903 | 90.76 282 x 340 x 89.92 | |
| 1963 Nov 15 | 90.6 283 x 318 x 89.9 (SATCAT) | ||
| 1963 Nov 27 | Deb 1963-42C reentered | ||
| 1963 Nov 29 | 0930 | 90.42 275 x 308 x 89.90 (RAE) | |
| 1964 Jan 6 | 0930 | 89.53 232 x 258 x 89.9 (RAE) | |
| 1964 Jan 19 | 0200 | 88.37 191 x 196 x 89.87 | |
| 1964 Jan 21 | 0920? | ARGON/Agena D reentered | |
