Saturday, February 10, 1990
Thursday, February 8, 1990
Kosmos 128
1966-079A
The next flight, Zenit-4 No. 23, returned to use of the 65 degree inclination.
| Kosmos-128 | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1966 Aug 27 | 0950? | Launch by 11A57 | KB |
| 0954? | Blok-I burn | ||
| 0959? | Blok-I sep | 89.8 213 x 319 x 65.0 | |
| 1966 Sep 4 | 0620? | Retrofire | |
| 0640? | Landed after 7.84d | ||
Wednesday, February 7, 1990
Kosmos 120
1966-050A
Zenit-2 No. 41 was the first Zenit-2 spacecraft to be launched using the more powerful 11A57 launch vehicle with a Blok-I upper stage. It was the first 1966 launch to use the summer 51.8 degree slot.
| Kosmos-120 | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1966 Jun 8 | 1100 | Launch by 11A57 | KB LC31 |
| 1105? | Blok-I burn | ||
| 1110? | Blok-I sep | ||
| 1900 | 89.4 200 x 300 x 51.8 (TASS) | ||
| 89.4 205 x 285 x 51.8 (RAE) | |||
| 89.40 201 x 287 x 51.8 | |||
| 1966 Jun 16 | 0921 | Retrofire | |
| 0925? | PO sep | ||
| 0936? | Landed after 7.94d | ||
Corona 80
1964-030A
The ARGON 21 satellite, mission 9065A, was placed in a 350 km circular orbit at a record inclination of 115 degrees to the equator. (A 65 deg mission would apparently also have been acceptable to the planners, and it is not clear why this was not chosen). The mission required different paint patterns for thermal control. The inclination was chosen to give maximum area coverage for the ARGON mapping mission. Primary purpose was `long ties of northern hemisphere datums', with ties in the south as a secondary objective. In addition to the usual KH-5 camera system, it may have carried an optical flashing beacon (Starflash 1A) which was used as a geodetic beacon.
| KH-5 Mission 9065A | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1964 Jun 13 | 1547 | Launch by TAT Agena D | V Pad 2 |
| 1548 | Castor sep (T+1:05) | ||
| 1549 | Thor MECO (T+2:29) | ||
| 1549 | Thor VECO (T+2:38) | ||
| 1549 | Thor sep (T+2:43) | ||
| 1550 | Agena burn (T+3:35) | ||
| 1554 | Agena MECO (T+7:40) | 91.82 365 x 370 x 114.98 (VCR) | |
| 1964 Jun 13 | 1945 | 91.66 343 x 368 x 115.1 | |
| 1964 Jun 14 | 1430 | 91.67 350 x 364 x 115.0 (RAE) | |
| 1964 Jun 14 | 1537 | 91.66 351 x 361 x 115.0 | |
| 1964 Jun 16 | 91.7 352 x 362 x 114.9 (SATCAT) | ||
| 1964 Jun 19 | 1818? | SRV ejected on rev 95 | -140? x 430? x 115.9 |
| 1964 Jun 19 | 1900 | SRV recovered, mid air | |
| 1964 Jul 4 | 1045 | 91.65 352 x 358 x 115.0 | |
| 1964 Jul 28 | 1941 | 91.61 347 x 359 x 115.0 | |
| 1964 Aug 7 | Deb 30B reentered | ||
| 1964 Nov 2 | 1200 | 91.34 334 x 348 x 115.0 (RAE) | |
| 1965 May 29 | 1900 | 88.75 205 x 218 x 115.0 (RAE) | |
| 1965 Jun 1 | 1750 | 88.12 175 x 187 x 115.0 | |
| 1965 Jun 2 | 2050? | ARGON/Agena reentered | |
Tuesday, February 6, 1990
Luna 8
1965-099A
E-6 No. 12 (Luna-8) was another failure; this time the retro burn came too late, with the same result - a destructive impact on the lunar surface. The airbags did not inflate properly, tumbling the spacecraft.
The launch used a lower inclination 51.8 deg parking orbit, allowing a larger launch mass of 1552 kg. This may have been the first E-6 flight with the 11S59 core stage.
| Luna-8 | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1965 Dec 3 | 1046:14 | Launch by Molniya | KB |
| 1051 | Blok-A sep | ||
| 1051 | Blok-I burn | ||
| 1055 | Blok-I sep | ||
| 1146? | BOZ burn | ||
| 1147? | Blok-L burn | ||
| 1151? | Blok-L sep | ||
| 1965 Dec 4 | 1900 | TCM | |
| 1965 Dec 6 | 1944 | Set up lunar vertical | |
| 1965 Dec 6 | 2139 | T+0 Airbag inflation | |
| T+13s 90 km | |||
| 2151 | 75 km | ||
| 1965 Dec 6 | Retro ignition | ||
| Retro cutoff 9s | |||
| 1965 Dec 6 | 2151:30 | Impact 9 8' N 63 18' W | |