Thursday, November 15, 1984

Surveyor M-3

 1966-095A


The Surveyor Mass Model 3 mission carried a simple mass model of the Surveyor probe aboard Centaur AC-9 for a demonstration of a two-burn Centaur lunar injection mission. Launch was at 1112:02 on 1966 Oct 26 from Cape Kennedy. Atlas SECO was early. After Atlas separation the Centaur, with two RL10YA3-3 engines, made its first burn for 340.5 seconds, 10s longer than planned, entering a 166 x 166 km parking orbit at 1124. The second Centaur burn was at 1148 UT for 106.3 seconds and left SM3 and Centaur AC-9 in a highly elliptical, 166 x 406200 km orbit. The SM3 instrumentation transmitted for 20 hours.

Launch azimuth was 99.7 SM-3 was 726 kg.


AC-9 
 

DateTimeEventOrbit  

1966 Oct 26  1112:02  Launch by AC-9  CKAFS LC36B 
  T+2:20 Atlas BECO 
  Fairing and panels sep 
  Atlas SECO 
  Atlas sep 
 1116:04 T+4:02 Centaur MES-1, 5:40 
 1121:40 T+9:38 Centaur MECO-1  87.80 167 x 174 x 29.6  
  Coast for 24:18  
 1145:58  Centaur MES-2, 1:46 
 1147:44  Centaur MECO-2, 
  Surveyor Model sep  174 x 463425 x 29.6 
   165 x 470040 x 29.67 (GD) 
  Centaur retro  170 x 339643  
  Centaur orbit  164 x 357071 x 29.66 (GD) 
1966 Oct 27  0700? End of tx 
1966 Nov 4  1545  AC-9 first perigee
1966 Nov 9  0350? SM-3 first perigee

No comments:

Post a Comment

These Are Not My Beautiful Stories

  Summary: The chapters within are outlines for both future stories I’ve got planned (in the case that I never get around to writing them) a...