TeamNathanFTW’s New and Improved Blog : June 1984

Thursday, June 28, 1984

NOAA B

1980-043A

NOAA B was launched at 1053 on 1980 May 29 by an Atlas F from SLC3W at Vandenberg. The Atlas booster engine thrust was too low, and the Atlas main engine sustainer burned for an extra 54s in an attempt to compensate. However at 1100 the Atlas separated prematurely from the NOAA satellite - but since it was still thrusting the NOAA remained attached! At 1103 the Star 37S motor fired but attitude control propellant was almost depleted and the orbit acheived was 102.1 min, 264 x 1445 x 92.2 deg, far from the desired circular sun-synchronous orbit. On May 30 NOAA B was powered down and decommissioned; it reentered on 1981 May 3.

Date	Time	Event	Orbit

NOAA B



1980 May 29	1053	Launch by Atlas F	SLC3W V
		T+2:01 BECO
		T+2:04 BPJ Booster Package Jettison
		T+2:24 NFJ Nose Fairing Jettison
		T+5:24 planned SECO
		T+5:43 planned VECO
	1058	T+5:49 Atlas sep command but remained thrusting
	1059	T+6:18 Actual SECO
	1100?	Atlas sep	-350? x 700? x 92?
			-2976? x 773 x 98.8?
	1103	T+10:27 Star 37 burn
	1104	T+11:10 Star 37 burnout
		102.1 264 x 1445 x 92.2
1980 May 30	1104	NOAA B powered down
1981 May 3		Reentered

Tuesday, June 26, 1984

Gambit-3 29

1970-090A

KH-8 29 (GAMBIT 4329) was launched on 1970 Oct 23 by Titan IIIB Agena D from Vandenberg on a 19 day flight. Its mission probably included imaging of missile silos for the R-36 (SS-9) missile. Major orbit raising burns were carried out on Oct 24 and around Nov 5.

Date	Time	Event	Orbit

KH-8 29



1970 Oct 23	1740	Launch by Titan IIIB Agena D	V SLC4W
	1742	Titan stage 1 sep
	1745	Titan stage 2 sep
	1745	Agena burn
	1750?	Agena MECO
	1902		89.63 125 x 386 x 111.1
1970 Oct 24	0638		89.80 133 x 394 x 111.1
		Orbit raise
1970 Oct 25	1741		90.10 135 x 423 x 111.0
1970 Oct 27	2257		89.86 131 x 403 x 111.0
1970 Nov 1	0742		89.61 122 x 387 x 111.0
	2138?	SRV-1 recovery opp
	2145?	Entry
	2210?	SRV-1 recovered
		Orbit raise
1970 Nov 2	2107		89.81 135 x 394 x 111.0
		Orbit raise
1970 Nov 5	2219		90.35 149 x 433 x 111.0
1970 Nov 10	1035		90.04 145 x 407 x 111.0
1970 Nov 10		SRV-2 recovered after planned 18 day mission
1970 Nov 11		Reentered after 19d
	2311?	Deboost

Sunday, June 24, 1984

Explorer 39

1968-066A

The AD-C (Air Density Explorer C, Explorer XXXIX) satellite was launched from Vandenberg on 1968 Aug 8. The Scout delivered it into a 670 x 2538 km x 80.7 deg orbit, together with Explorer XL. Explorer XXXIX's beacon transmitted until 1971 Jun; it was reactivated on 1976 Feb 20. The satellite reentered on 1981 Jun 22.

The Injun satellite had a mass of 63 kg not counting the ADE. The ADE hardware had a total mass of 16 kg, 9.4 kg of which was the 3.66-m dia balloon satellite, made of Al foil and polyethylene-terephthalate plastic film. Attached to the balloon surface was a battery unit, a solar cell package, and a transmitter. The Al foil sphere had a small 0.01m equatorial gap turning the Al into an antenna.

The AD deployer consists of a container, a spearation mechanism, ejection bellows and an inflation bottle, for a total mass of 7 kg; this remained with the Injun satellite, giving it an orbital mass of 70 kg.

The AD/Injun pair was launched near solar max, to complement the earlier IQSY mission.

The Scout E-section payload adapter had a mass of 4.5 kg.

Debris detected in orbit had a slower decay rate than the balloon, and may be associated with Injun. Debris cataloged starting in 1994 was at an altitude consistent with some of the rest of the debris, suggesting that it separated from Injun in the 1960s or 1970s.

Date	Time	Event	Orbit

AD-C



1968 Aug 8	2012:00	Launch by Scout B S165C	V SLC5
	2013	Algol burnout T+1:16
	2013	Castor burn T+1:18
		T+1:56 Castor burnout
	2014	Antares burn T+2:00
	2014	Coast T+2:35
		T+10:03 Spinup
		T+10:04 Antares sep
	2022:08	T+10:08 FW4S burn
	2022:40	T+10:40 FW4S burnout
	2040:04	T+28:04 AD inflation and sep from Injun
	2110:03	T+58:03 Injun sep from FW4S
		Injun despin
		VLF antenna out
		Loop antenna out
			670 x 2538 x 80.7 (RAE)
1971 Jun		Deactivated
1976 Feb 20		Reactivated
1981 Jun 22		Reentered

Payload:

Air density balloon (LaRC/Keating, SAO/Jacchia)
Radio beacon
Internal temperature sensor

Friday, June 22, 1984

Discoverer 13

1960-008

A Discoverer diagnostic mission was launched on 1960 Aug 10 by Thor Agena A from Vandenberg. It carried a five-channel FM/FM telemetry system to transmit separation, reentry and recovery operations data, an 8W transmitter instead of the usual 1.2W one, and a continuous-tape recorder to play back data after ionization blackout. The capsule had a VHF beacon, and the thrust cone had an S-band beacon to aid in determining reentry trajectory. On Aug 11, the SRV was successfully recovered from the Pacific Ocean at 161.57W 25.6N and returned to Washington in triumph.

Date	Time	Event	Orbit

CORONA 13



1960 Aug 10	2037:54	Launch by Thor Agena A	V Pad 5
	2040	Thor MECO (T+2:43)
	2040	Thor VECO (T+2:52)
	2040:56	Thor sep (T+3:02)
	2042:56	Agena burn (T+5:02) 1:58
	2044:16	T+6:22 Thor apogee Vi 3.750 km/s	-5499 x 255 x 82?
	2044:55	Agena cutoff (T+7:01)
			258 x 683 x 82.85 (RAE)
			256 x 703 x ? (VCR)
1960 Aug 11	1803		94.00 252 x 688 x 82.9
1960 Aug 11	2313:37	300.9 km 64.83N 171.23W 7.638 km/s -2.89 163.04
			-206 x 514 x 82.9
1960 Aug 11	2313:25	S+0:00 SRV sep 303.9 km over 65.58N 171.73W
		Pitch -61.7 deg
		S+0:02 Spinup
	2313:28	S+0:03 Deorbit 290 m/s	-206 x 514 x 82.9
		S+0:14 Despin
	2313:41	S+0:15 Thrust cone sep
	2317:55	189 km
	2318:00	S+4:34 Reentry
	2320	Beacon acquired by recovery force
	2322:00	Alt 82 km
	2322:36	Alt 67 km
	2322:48	5g-switch closed
	2323:21	31 km alt, HTS acq
	2324:56	Parachute deploy at 15 km
	2324:56	S+11:32 Para cover off
	2324:57	S+11:33 Para deploy, heat shield off
	2350	SRV last tracked by HTS
	2352?	SRV land in Pacific 25 36N 161 34W
		25 38 +/-2 N 161 33 +/- W
1960 Aug 12	0005	Visual sighting in ocean
	0222	Recovered
1960 Aug 13	1836		93.93 252 x 681 x 82.9
1960 Sep 15	1327		92.93 245 x 590 x 82.9
1960 Oct 9	2130		92.00 250 x 493 x 82.9 (RAE)
1960 Nov 9	0930		90.00 226 x 319x 82.9 (RAE)
1960 Nov 5	1438		90.41 245 x 343 x 82.9
1960 Nov 11	2043		89.39 216 x 272 x 82.9
1960 Nov 14	1955?	Agena reentered