Saturday, April 18, 1992
Friday, April 17, 1992
Kosmos 44
1964-053A
The first 11F614 Meteor satellite was launched on 1964 Aug 28. It carried an imaging radiometer to study cloud cover. Launch was by a Vostok rocket from Baikonur into a 65 degree orbit. The Blok-E stage appears to have overburned since the 857 km apogee is much higher than for later Meteor launches.
| Kosmos-44 | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1964 Aug 28 | 1600? | Launch by Vostok 8A92 | KB |
| 1604? | Blok A sep | ||
| 1610? | Blok E MECO | ||
| 99.48 615 x 857 x 65.0 | |||
| 1990 Dec 20 | 583 x 822 x 65.1 | ||
| 1990 Dec 20 | R/B orbit | 652 x 778 x 65.1 | |
| 1990 Dec 20 | 53C cat | 652 x 777 x 65.1 | |
Kosmos 1593
1984-095A
Uragan No. 18L (216) was launched in Sep 1984.
| Kosmos-1593 | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 Sep 4 | 1549:53 | Launch by Proton | KB |
| T+2:07? Stage 1 sep | |||
| T+3:18? Fairing | |||
| T+5:38? Stage 2 sep | |||
| 1509 | T+9:40? Stage 3 MECO | 183 x 191 x 51.6 | |
| 1509 | T+9:53? Stage 3 sep | ||
| 1706? | T+1:17? DM MES-1 | 377 x 19153 x 52.0 | |
| 1959? | DM MES-2 | ||
| 2001? | DM MECO-2 | ||
| 2002? | T+4:12? DM sep | ||
| 1984 Sep 22 | In service | ||
| 1985 Nov 28 | end of ops | ||
Tuesday, April 14, 1992
Gambit 4
1963-051A
The fourth KH-7, SV 954, was launched on 1963 Dec 18 by Atlas Agena D from Point Arguello. The Agena 4802 upper stage was not separately tracked, but for the first time it separated immediately after launch. The first use of a 4800 series Agena may indicate an operational variant. The orbit perigee was 30 km lower than targeted. The spacecraft remained in orbit for 31 hours. The lifeboat system was used to recover the SRV on rev 18, but all its gas had been used up killing the tumbling and an inaccurate deorbit burn sent the SRV 1200 km downrange of the target - remarkably the recovery team still managed to air-catch the package!
| Program 206 SV 954 | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1963 Dec 18 | 2145:30 | Launch by Atlas Agena D | NMFPA |
| 2147:48 | BECO T+2:18 | ||
| 2150:02 | SECO T+4:32 | ||
| 2150:16 | VECO T+4:46 | ||
| 2150:20 | Atlas sep T+4:50 | ||
| 2151:37 | Agena burn T+6:07 | ||
| 2155:38 | Agena MECO T+10:08 | 88.33 138 x 280 x 97.88 (VCR) | |
| 1963 Dec 18 | 2200? | OCV sep from Agena D | |
| 1963 Dec 18 | Agena D reentered? | ||
| 1963 Dec 19 | Last image (rev 16?) | ||
| 1963 Dec 19 | 0230 | 88.48 122 x 266 x 97.89 (RAE) | |
| 0309 | 88.47 126 x 271 x 97.90 (TLE) | ||
| 1963 Dec 20 | 0015? | SRV sep? | |
| 1963 Dec 20 | 0050? | RV recovered on rev 18 | |
| 1963 Dec 20 | 0405? | Reentered after 1.28d | |
Gemini 6A
1965-104A
The planned GTA-6 (Gemini Titan Agena 6) mission was cancelled when the Agena docking target failed to reach orbit. In the replacement mission, Gemini Titan 6A, Spacecraft 6 would use Spacecraft 7 as a rendezvous target,without a docking. As Gemini 7 passed overhead, GT-6A sat on the pad ready for launch on Dec 12, 1965. But the Titan engines shut down 1.2s after ignition, before liftoff, and the launch was aborted. Crew commander Schirra decided not to eject, saving the mission for a second attempt 3 days later.
The Dec 15 launch went off smoothly at 1337. Six hours later, Schirra and Stafford had achieved the first ever rendezvous in space, stationkeeping a mere 37 metres from Gemini VII as both flew around the Earth. Finally, Schirra brought his spacecraft nose to nose with Borman's at a distance of only 0.3 metres. At 0051 on Dec 16, a brief engine firing saw the end of the rendezvous, and the Gemini VI-A crew left Borman and Lovell to continue their marathon flight. Schirra and Stafford splashed down later that day in the Atlantic at 23 25 N 67 50 W, and were recovered by the USS Wasp. Retrofire was 94 m/s aft, 35m/s down.
| GT-6A | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1965 Dec 12 | 1454:06 | Launch abort on pad | |
| 1533 | Crew extracted from GT6 | ||
| 1965 Dec 15 | 1337:26 | Launch | |
| 1340:03 | BECO 62 km | -5912 x 114 x 29.6 | |
| 1340:03 | T+2:36 Stage 1 sep | ||
| 1343:02 | T+5:36 SECO | ||
| 1343:02 | Orbit insertion | ||
| 1343:20 | T+5:56 Titan stage 2 sep | 161 x 250 | |
| 1343:20 | IVAR burn | 161 x 262 x 29 | |
| 1343:34 | T+6:08 IVAR off | ||
| 1343:35 | T+6:09 Fairings sep | ||
| 1511:28 | NH TCM height adjust, correct apo 24s 4m/s | 161 x 272 x 29 | |
| 1555:25 | NCL TCM phase adjust 18m/s 77s | 224 x 272 x 29 | |
| 1619:33 | 10m/s 40s TCM plane change (node) | 223 x 272 x 28.9 | |
| 1640:45 | 0.2m/s 1s TCM height adjust (apo 2) | 223 x 271 x 28.9 | |
| 1725:03 | TCM NSR coelliptic 13m/s 53s (apo 3) | 270 x 274 x 28.9 | |
| 1849 | Tally ho GT7 | ||
| 1853 | TPI (terminal phase) 10m/s 41s | ||
| 1909 | Terminal phase burn | ||
| 1921 | Terminal phase burn | ||
| 1924 | At 3 km | ||
| 1927 | At 750m | ||
| 1929 | At 250m | ||
| 1931 | At 35m, begin stationkeep | ||
| 1933:26 | Rendezvous with GT7 | ||
| 1934 | At 35m | ||
| 1943 | At 6m | ||
| 1948 | At 3 m | ||
| 2031 | At 6m, night s'keep | ||
| 0040? | At 20m, prepare to sep | ||
| 1965 Dec 16 | 0051:55 | Sep burn 15s 3m/s | |
| 0303:18 | 3m/s 11s posigrade mvr | 90.54 283 x 312 x 28.89 | |
| 1452:54? | Adapter module sep | 270 x 274? x 28.9 | |
| 1453:24 | Retrofire 6N 180W | ||
| 1453 | Retrofire complete | -14 x 295 x 28.89 | |
| 1454? | Retro jet | ||
| 1454? | Docking bar jet | ||
| 1513:34 | Entry 400k | ||
| 1528:47 | Splashdown | ||
| 1546 | Recovered by USS Wasp | ||
Gemini 7
1965-100A
Spacecraft 7 was assigned to the second long duration mission; it would simulate a full lunar expedition, a fortnight long. The failure of Agena 5002 saw it also pressed into service as the rendezvous target for Spacecraft 6; it was therefore launched first, out of sequence.
After orbit insertion, Borman practised stationkeeping with the second stage. This was the first ever successful `prox ops' (proximity operations). The IVAR burn moved Gemini ahead of the second stage along its +Vbar (velocity vector). Borman yawed Gemini to face the venting upper stage; the astronauts observed a variety of small debris between them and the rocket, later identified as frozen rocket propellant vented from the stage. At a separation distance of about 60 m Borman fired thrusters again to reapproach, and began stationkeeping at 15 m. A small out of plane maneuver was made to keep the Sun out of the crew's eyes. After 15 minutes of stationkeeping the spacecraft made a 9 m/s separation maneuver. On the two succeeding revolutions of the Earth, Gemini 7 and the Titan stage reapproached each other due to their almost identical orbits. It had been planned that Gemini would stay ahead of the Titan stage, but it appears that instead it slipped behind a little more each orbit, possibly due to an incorrect orientation of the spacecraft at the time of the separation burn. After two and a half orbits, Jim Lovell carried out a 76s rocket burn to raise the orbit for the long two week haul; the burn carried them through the booster debris cloud.
On Dec 11 the crew tested an optical communications experiment. Retrofire was 90m/s aft 34m/s down. Gemini VII splashed down in the Atlantic on Dec 18 at 25 25 01 N, 70 06 07 W.
| GT-7 | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1965 Dec 4 | 1930:04 | Launch | |
| 1932:39 | T+2:35 BECO | -5908 x 121 x 29.0 | |
| 1932:40 | Staging | ||
| 1935:41 | T+5:37 SECO Orbit insertion | ||
| 1936:12 | IVAR burn, 2s | 161 x 327 x 28.9 | |
| 1936:13 | T+6:09 Stage 2 sep | ||
| 1936:13? | Fairing jettison | ||
| 1936:14 | OAMS off | ||
| 1938 | MSC-3 magnetometer boom deploy | ||
| 1941 | Stationkeeping with stage 2 at 30m | ||
| 1946 | At 15m from stage 2 | ||
| 1951:13 | Sep burn 20s (D-4/D-7 burn) | ||
| 1952 | Begin D-4/D-7 experiment | ||
| 1952? | Experiment cover jettison? | ||
| 2114 | First flypast of stage 2 | ||
| 2232 | Second flypast of stage 2 | ||
| 2318:04 | T+3:47 OAMS raise peri, 75s 18m/s | 222 x 327 x 28.9 | |
| 1965 Dec 7 | 1304 | Stage 2 impact IOR | |
| 1965 Dec 7 | 222 x 317 x 28.9 | ||
| 1965 Dec 7 | 1713:23 | Orbit adjust 16s 4m/s | 236 x 317 x 28.9 |
| 1965 Dec 9 | 1841:59 | OAMS circ at peri, 78s 19m/s | 299 x 317 x 28.9 |
| 1925:05 | OAMS circ at apo 12s 5m/s | 299 x 303 x 28.9 | |
| 1965 Dec 14 | 1748? | D-4 Observe MM reentry at KMR | 296 x 302 x 28.9 |
| 1965 Dec 15 | 1100 | 295 x 302 x 28.9 | |
| 1965 Dec 15 | 1933 | Rendezvous by GT-6A | |
| 1965 Dec 16 | 0050 | end of rendezvous | |
| 1965 Dec 17 | RCS thruster problem | ||
| 1965 Dec 18 | 1327? | Adapter sep | 293 x 304 x 28.9 |
| 1328:07 | Retrofire | 0 x 295 x 28.9 | |
| 1328:50? | Retro jettison | ||
| 1340:00 | Entry 114 km | -8 x 297 x 28.90 | |
| 1405:04 | Splashdown | ||
| 1437 | Recovery by USS Wasp | ||
GATV-2
1965-F11
TDA 2 was the first Gemini target to be launched, aboard Agena 5002 in Oct 1965. The Agena had a Bell 8247 main engine with a Bell 8250 secondary propulsion system (SPS). The mission failed when the Agena exploded upon ignition. It is also referred to as GATV (Gemini Agena Target Vehicle) 5002. It was intended for use as the GTA 6 target, and that mission was cancelled after the launch failure; the GT 6A mission was flown instead in Dec 1965, rendezvousing with GT 7.
| TDA 2 mission events | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1965 Oct 25 | 1500:04 | Launch by LC14 | |
| 1502:14 | T+2:10 BECO 59 km | ||
| 1502:07 | T+2:13 Booster sep | -5954 x 130 x 28.70 | |
| 1504:45 | T+4:41 SECO | ||
| 1505:07 | T+5:03 VECO | -4405 x 292 x 28.90 | |
| 1505:07 | T+5:03 Horizon sensor cover ejected | ||
| 1505:10 | T+5:06 Atlas sep, 190 km | ||
| 1505:53 | T+5:49 Agena SPS burn | ||
| 1506:13 | T+6:09 SPS cutoff | ||
| 1506:13 | Agena PPS TIG, 246 km, explosion | -4408 x 294 x 29.02 | |
| 1506:13 | PPS shutdown | ||
| 1506:19 | Loss of telemetry | ||
| 1507 | Apogee 294 km | ||
| 1512? | Reentry at around 28N 50W | ||
Sunday, April 12, 1992
Luna 19
1971-082A
The E-8 No. 202 spacecraft was modified for a lunar orbital mission. The Lunokhod, with its wheels removed, was firmly attached to the orbiter section and used as the science instrument compartment. The modified probe was designated E-8LS No. 202 and named Luna-19 after launch in Sep 1971.
| Luna-19 | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 Sep 28 | 1000:22 | Launch by Proton-K | KB |
| 1010:10 | T+9:48 Stage 3 sep | ||
| 1014 | Blok D MES-1 | ||
| 1016 | Blok D MECO-1, Earth orbit | ||
| 1035? | Desc node | ||
| 1115? | MES-2 | |
| 1118 | Asc node | ||
| 1122 | MECO-2 | ||
| 1971 Sep 29 | 1900:26 | TCM | |
| 1971 Oct 1 | 1900:27 | TCM | |
| 1971 Oct 2 | 2122:55 | Lunar orbit insertion | |
| 2126:35 | LOI CO | 121.75 140 x 140 x 40.58 | |
| 1971 Oct 6 | 0100? TCM | 120.9 126 x 137 x 40.6 | |
| 1971 Nov 26 | TCM | ||
| 1971 Nov 28 | TCM | 130.7 72 x 390 x 40.68 | |
| 1972 Feb 4 | 130.7 83 x 379 x 40.6 | ||
| 1972 Apr 3 | 130.7 134 x 329 x 40.2 | ||
| 1972 Aug 1 | 130.7 161 x 303 x 40.9 | ||
| 1972 Sep 30 | Out of fuel? | ||
| 1972 Oct 20 | End of transmissions | ||
Payload:
- TV cameras
- Gamma ray spectrometer
- Radio altimeter, 3.2cm pulse mod. antenna with 12 km swath.
- Magnetometer