1978-014A
The EXOS-A satellite was designed to study the aurora. It was named Kyokko (aurora) after launch from Kagoshima in 1978. The satellite is 126 kg and is a 0.80l 0.95d cylinder with 2 1.9m booms. It had a 0.38m dia, 58 kg f 13 kg em, 6.8 kN kick motor similar to the one carried on Tansei-3. The motor fired after half an orbit.
1440 kg St 3+St4 with 1080 kg prop 360 em, 67 kN., 53 s burn time. Isp 284. Without St4, St 3 is 1255 kg f 172 kg em,. KM-A has 18s burn time.
The UV auroral TV imager operated between 1200-1400A with a resolution of 20 arcmin and a FOV of 60 deg.
| Kyokko | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 Feb 4 | 0700 | Launch by Mu 3H | KASC |
| T+0:08 SOB burnout | |||
| T+0:09 SOB sep | |||
| 0702? | St 1 burnout | -6217 x 90 x 53.36 | |
| T+1:26 St 2 burn | |||
| 0702? | St 2 burnout | ||
| 0702? | Fairing top off | ||
| 0702? | Fairing lower part off | ||
| 0705? | Spinup St 3 | ||
| 0706 | T+6:29 St 2 sep | -5380 x 333 x 62.50 | |
| 0706 | T+6:34 St 3 burn, 54s | ||
| 0707 | T+7:28 St 3 burnout | ||
| 0708 | T+8:24 St 3 sep | (B) 94.3 331 x 636 x 65.1 | |
| 0753 | T+53:47 KM Kick motor burn | ||
| 0755 | T+55:27 KM sep | ||
| 0805 | T+1:05:17 EST-SA sep | ||
| 1978 Feb 4 | 134.3 642 x 3975 x 65.4 | ||
| 1979 Nov 9 | End of transmissions | ||
| 1981 Mar | Objects C to F cataloged | 640 x 3900 x 65 | |
Payload:
- Ion mass spectrometer
- UV auroral TV imaging
- Electron energy analyser
- UV glow spectrometer
- Electron probes
