Wednesday, December 20, 1989

Solwind

 1979-017A


Space Test Program satellite P78-1 was launched on 1979 Feb 24 by Atlas F from Vandenberg and inserted into a 600 km polar orbit using a Fairchild OIS (Orbit Insertion System) upper stage. The satellite was often known by the name of one of its primary experiments, SOLWIND, which was a Naval Research Lab solar coronagraph. The SOLWIND coronagraph, in addition to studying the Sun, serendipitously discovered several comets.

P78-1 was built from the OSO-7 backup spacecraft. Size was 2.75m long 1.83m dia. According to a prelaunch Fairchild paper on the OIS, launch mass of the satellite was 925 kg; other sources give 875 kg.

The OIS had a Stage 0 adpater cylinder similar to the PTS/SVS, with a mass of 57 kg; a small Star 27 motor in a truncated conical shell 0.98m long 0.4 to 1.3m dia carrying the spin system. The motor was 363 kg and the shell was 140 kg. Nominal OIS delta-V was 787 m/s from a -1705 x 592 km x 97.7 deg transfer orbit.

On 1985 Sep 13, the satellite, which was still operating well, was destroyed by a US Air Force antisatellite weapon as a test.


P78-1 
 

DateTimeEventOrbit  

1979 Feb 24  0820  Launch by Atlas F/OIS  
  T+2m? Booster sep
  T+5m? Atlas SECO 
  256 km, 7.190 km/s, 8.14 deg  -1727 x 590 x 97.7 
 0826 T+6m? Atlas sep from OIS  -1705 x 592 x 97.7  
  -1900 x 600 x 97.7  
1979 Feb 24  0830? Star 27 burn 
 0831? Star 27 burnout 96.4 563 x 602 x 97.7 
 0834? Star 27 sep 
 0835? Despin weights sep 
1985 Sep 13   Destroyed by USAF ASAT, end of tx 
1986 Jul 2   1979-17JD cataloged 
1986 Jul 25   1979-17JF-JH cataloged 
1986 Nov   1979-17JJ-JS cataloged 
1987 Nov   1979-17 LG-LJ cataloged 
1988 Aug   1979-17LZ cataloged 
1992 Jul 20   1979-17A reentered 

Payload:

  • DARPA-301 Gamma ray spectrometer (trapped radiation, solar and atmospheric gamma)

  • SOLWIND NRL-401 EUV and white light coronagraph/heliograph

  • CRLS-229 Solar X-ray spectrometer/spectroheliograph 3-25A, 20 arcsec res. (Aerospace/NRL/Landecker)

    • SOLEX A,B NRL/Aerospace solar flare XR Bragg spectrometer, NRL-128 3-25A

    • MONEX NRL/Aerospace all sky X-ray monitor; auroral X-rays; NRL-601

  • NRL-126 X-ray Spectroheliograph

  • ECOM-721 UCB EUV airglow spectrometer 350-1400A, US Army sponsor

  • ONR-601 Preliminary aerosol monitor

  • CRL-251 High latitude particle spectrometer

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