Friday, January 24, 1992
Luna 2
1959-014A
In Sep 1959 an attempt was made to launch E-1A No. 6, but although the strapons began to fire, the booster core stage failed to ignite properly. The rocket did not take off and was removed from the launch pad. A backup vehicle was called into service with payload E-1A No. 7; E-1A No. 6 was used as a testbed.
The Korolyov team's efforts were crowned with success on the seventh attempt - E-1A No. 7, another AMS `Luna' probe, now known as Luna-2, impacted the lunar surface. It was launched on 1959 Sep 12 and hit the Moon at 30 deg N, 0 deg W at 2102 UTC on Sep 13.
Lunar impact velocity was 3.3km/s at an angle of 60 deg to the surface. The asymptotic geocentric velocity was (if the translation of one source is correct) 2 km/s. Inclination of the orbit was 65 deg.
| AMS Luna-2 | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1959 Sep 12 | 0639:26 | Launch by 8K72 | KB |
| 0644? | Blok A sep | ||
| 0644? | Blok-E burn | ||
| 0651? | Blok-E sep | ||
| 1959 Sep 13 | 2102:23 | Lunar impact | |
Thursday, January 23, 1992
Wednesday, January 22, 1992
STS-51-D (Discovery)
1985-028A
After cancellation of 51-E and replanning, the mission was referred to in some internal documents as 51-DR or 51D(R).
After ET sep, a test to dump excess fuel was performed; the LOX vent torque was larger than expected and put Discovery into a 45 degree roll, which was quickly removed by RCS firings.
Deployment of the Anik satellite went smoothly, but Syncom failed to boot up after ejection. Discovery made a burn to reverse its separation maneuver as a plan was developed to fix the problem. A lever on the side of the satellite is normally knocked to the on position by the system that spins the Syncom out of the payload bay; triggering the lever is meant to active the electronics on the satellite. NASA's theory was that the lever had not been triggered. On April 15 the astronauts assembled two 'flyswatter' devices in the cabin, and the next day Hoffman and Griggs made a spacewalk to attach them to the RMS arm. On Apr 17 Discovery reapproached Syncom and used the robot arm to swat the Syncom's lever. The flyswatter made contact with the lever twice during the encounter but with no effect. Plans were drawn up to repair the satellite on a subsequent mission.
| STS 51-D mission events | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 Mar 23 | Roll to VAB | VAB | |
| 1985 Mar 28 | Rollout | LC39A | |
| 1985 Apr 12 | 1359:05 | Launch from LC39A | |
| 1401:12 | SRB sep at 46.7 km | ||
| 1407:57 | MECO at 109.9 km | ||
| 1408:16 | ET sep at 112.7 km | 89.75 64 x 459 x 28.5 (dV) | |
| 1442:20 | OMS-2 (2:23) 70m/s | ||
| 1444:43 | OMS-2 CO | 92.17 302 x 459 x 28.53 | |
| 1534 | PLBD open | ||
| 2012 | RMS tests | ||
| 2037 | RMS checkout complete | ||
| 2338:38 | Anik C1 deploy | ||
| 2354? | SEP-1 (OMS-3 RH 13s) 3m/s | 92.30 314 x 460 x 28.52 | |
| 1985 Apr 13 | 1458:22 | Leasat deploy | |
| 1510 | Stationkeep with Syncom IV-3 | ||
| 1514 | SEP-2 (OMS-4 8s) 4m/s | 92.30 314 x 460 x 28.52 | |
| 1543 | Planned Syncom PKM burn | ||
| 1636 | RETRO (OMS-5 8 s) 4m/s burn to stay 65 km from Syncom | ||
| 1985 Apr 14 | 1647 | 92.32 314 x 461 x 28.52 | |
| 1985 Apr 15 | 1045 | 92.31 314 x 460 x 28.52 | |
| 2000 | Two flyswatters assembled in cabin | ||
| 1985 Apr 16 | 1219 | Airlock at 3.1psi | |
| 1221 | Depressing to zero | ||
| 1225 | Vacuum reached | ||
| 1233 | HO | ||
| 1236 | Out in bay | ||
| 1240 | EVA (Hoffman;Griggs) (03:07, dp =03:10) | ||
| 1250 | EV2 biomed sensor failed | ||
| 1315? | Attach `flyswat' device to RMS | ||
| 1350 | Flyswat attach complete | ||
| 1420? | RMS cradled | ||
| 1507 | PSA stowed | ||
| 1519 | Ingress | ||
| 1530 | HC | ||
| 1535? | Repress | ||
| 1550? | EVA complete | ||
| 2054? | NSR (OMS-6 LH 12s) 3m/s | ||
| 1985 Apr 17 | 0700 | 92.31 315 x 459 x 28.52 | |
| 0929 | NCC mv | ||
| 1035 | NC3 (OMS-7 LH 13s) 3m/s | ||
| 1100 | TI (OMS-8 LH 9s) 3m/s | ||
| 1200 | MC3 burn RCS? | ||
| 1307 | At 15m from Syncom | ||
| 1400 | Rendezvous Syncom | ||
| 1405 | Arm in movement | ||
| 1414:56 | RMS contact with Leasat 3 | ||
| 1415:30 | Second RMS contact with Leasat 3 | ||
| 1418 | Contact time window closed | ||
| 1422? | RMS cradled | ||
| 1430? | Sep (OMS-9/LH 22s) 7m/s | 92.54 336 x 461 x 28.5 | |
| 1985 Apr 18 | 1610 | 92.55 337 x 461 x 28.52 | |
| 1985 Apr 19 | 0831 | PLBD closed | |
| 1244:25 | OMS DO (238s) 138m/s | ||
| 1248:23 | OMS DO CO | ||
| 1324 | Entry | ||
| 1354:28 | Landed RW33 KSC | ||
| 1354:36 | NGTD | ||
| 1355:31 | Wheels stop | ||
| 1820 | Tow to OPF | ||
Tuesday, January 21, 1992
Monday, January 20, 1992
Insat 1A
1982-031A
Insat 1A was built by Ford Aerospace for ISRO. It was launched on 1982 Apr 10 by Delta 3910/PAM-D. After launch, the solar panel and the C-band antenna did not deploy. After 12 days the C-band system was activated but the solar panel problem affected many of the systems; the VHRR imager failed in August, and attitude control was lost in September.
| Insat 1A | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 Apr 10 | 0647 | Launch by Delta 3910/PAM-D | CC LC17 |
| T+0:57 SRM 1-6 off | |||
| T+1:02 SRM 6-9 on | |||
| T+1:10 SRM 1-3 sep | |||
| T+1:24 SRM 4-6 sep | |||
| T+1:59 SRM 6-9 off | |||
| T+2:05 SRM 6-9 sep | |||
| T+3:43 MECO | |||
| T+3:45 St 1 sep | |||
| T+3:51 SES-1 5:04 | |||
| T+4:01 Fairing | |||
| 0655 | T+8:55 SECO-1 | ||
| T+18:45 spinup | |||
| 0705 | T+18:47 St 2 sep | -579? x 228 x 28.1 | |
| 0706 | T+19:26 TES 86s | ||
| 0707 | T+20:52 TECO at 17W 0N | ||
| 0717 | Stage 2 reentry over 17E 18S? | ||
| 0727 | T+40? PAM sep (20 min after burnout) | ||
| 1982 Apr 10 | 1230 | 631.33 223 x 35776 x 28.1 | |
| 1982 Apr 11 | LAM-1 Apogee burn | ||
| 1982 Apr 12 | LAM-2 burn | ||
| 1982 Apr 12 | 1416.73 35031 x 35781 x 0.5 GEO 75.8E+4.9E | ||
| Solar sail failed to deploy | |||
| 1982 Apr 15 | LAM | ||
| 1982 Apr 22 | C-band deployed | ||
| 1982 May 4 | 1436.08 35394 x 36178 x 0.5 GEO 73.5E | ||
| 1982 Jun 25 | 1436.03 35393 x 36176 x 0.4 GEO 72.6E | ||
| 1982 Jun 25 | On station | GEO 72.4E | |
| 1982 Aug 13 | VHRR failed | ||
| 1982 Sep 4 | Attitude control lost | ||
| 1982 Sep 6 | Decommissioned | ||
| 1983 Dec 29 | Drifting | 1434 GEO 89Wdr | |
| 1984 May 3 | 1434.14 35561 x 35935 x 0.1 GEO 19.3W+0.5E | ||
SNAPSHOT
1965-027A
Project SNAPSHOT was a joint effort between the US Air Force and the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) to test a fully functioning nuclear reactor in Earth orbit. The vehicle was attached to Agena 7001.
SNAP 10A was 440 kg including a 102 kg shield and a 14 kg heat shield.
A secondary payload sometimes described as an ionosphere beacon experiment is actually the SECOR geodetic satellite.
A fairing covered the reactor at launch; two side panel heat shields were jettisoned on orbit.
The SNAP is 436 kg, but there is also a cylindrical instrument section carrying secondary payloads and equipment; the Agena/instrument section was 1964 kg for a total dry mass of 2400 kg. Actual on orbit mass would be less than this by the mass of the heat shield and possibly the nose fairing.
SNAP is a cone 3.5m long 1.3m dia, the instrument section is around 1.3m long 1.5m dia and the Agena about 6.3m long 1.5m dia.
The reactor (40 kW nominal reactor power for 500W of provided electrical power) had U235 fuel moderated by ZrH and with beryllium reflectors; NaK-78 coolant was circulated through the system. It converted heat to energy via a SiGe thermoelectric converter. The reactor is shielded using lithium hydride. In addition to an aerodynamic nose fairing, the thermoelectric converter is surrounded by an ejectable heat shield "to prevent NaK plugging prior to startup", i.e. to prevent freezing of the NaK. The reactor had 37 fuel elements in a triangular array.
An ion engine test was carried; electromagnetic interference caused false horizon sensor data and `severe' attitude perturbations.
The reactor is described in SNAP Reactor Overview (S. Voss, 1984), AFWL-TN-84-14.
1965-27E, Catalog SSN 01399, has been associated with three different objects.
(1) An object in a 111.51 min, 1270 x 1321 km x 90.2 deg orbit was observed from Jun 1965 to Apr 1971. It appears to be a duplicate of the SNAPSHOT payload.
(2) An object in a 106.89 min, 1024 x 1141 km x 89.9 deg orbit was observed from Dec 1968 to Sep 1970. Based on its orbit and orbital plane it was probably a duplicate of 1965-48A, Transit NNS O-4; element sets on 1969 Feb 11 and 1970 Sep 13 are essentially identical.
(3) An object in a 101.07 min, 750 x 867 km x 90.5 deg orbit was first observed in Nov 1972. In Jul 1988 it had decayed to 671 x 739 km; all SSN 01399 elements since 1972 have been for this object. It is probably Transit debris - and might be associated with the 1972 TRIAD launch which was in a similar orbit and was close in orbital plane in Nov 1972. However, the inclination is different by 0.4 deg.
In around 1979, small debris objects began to be cataloged from SNAPSHOT. It is believed they emanate from the Agena and are similar to other small debris from SEASAT's Agena. The objects were released over many years rather than in one event.
| SNAPSHOT | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1965 Apr 3 | 2124 | Launch by Atlas Agena D | V |
| T+2:14 BECO | |||
| 2126 | Booster sep | ||
| 2128 | T+4:29 Atlas SECO | ||
| 2128 | Atlas sep | ||
| 2130 | T+6:00 Agena MES-1 | ||
| Nose cone ejected | |||
| 2133:40 | T+9:40 Agena MECO-1 | 161 x 1290? x 90.0 | |
| 2222? | Ionosphere beacon jettison at 1300 km | ||
| 2222:17? | T+58:17 Agena MES-2 10s | 111.6 1282 x 1313 x 90.0 | |
| 2222:27? | T+58:27 MECO-2 | ||
| 2230? | EGRS sep (rev 0) | ||
| 1965 Apr 4 | 0105 | Reactor startup | |
| Ion engine telemetry failed | |||
| 0300? | Reactor critical | ||
| 1965 Apr 4 | 0500? | Full power 600W | |
| 0738? | `sensible heat' generated, H+0 | ||
| 1965 Apr 4 | 0744? | H+6min Heat shield halves ejected (reactor at 275F, L+10:20?) | |
| 0942? | Rev 7, Temp switch closure | ||
| 1965 Apr 5 | 0530? | Rev 18, ion engine operation | |
| EMI problems cause vehicle slew | |||
| Ion engine shut down | |||
| 1965 Apr 10 | 0524 | Passive control phase begins | |
| 1965 May 16 | 1635 | Voltage regulator failed, auto shutdown, rev 555. | |
| F+1h reflectors ejected but connected by cables | |||
Jumpseat 4
1975-017A
This launch was initially reported to be SDS 1 but it is now clear that the first SDS launch was later. The mission was a success,with the satellite still operating as late as Jun 1983.
| JUMPSEAT 4 | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 Mar 10 | 0441 | Launch by Titan 34B Agena D | |
| 0443 | Stage 2 burn | ||
| 0446 | Stage 2 MECO | -3800? x 180 x 63.3 | |
| 0448 | Agena MES-1 | ||
| 0451? | Agena MECO-1 | 180? x 360? x 63.3? | |
| 0455? | Stage 2 reentry | ||
| 0519? | Agena MES-2 | ||
| 0521? | Agena MECO-2 | 702.0 295 x 39337 x 63.5 | |
| 0525? | Agena sep | ||