1959-002
The first CORONA test satellite, Agena 1019, was to be launched aboard Thor 160 on 1959 Jan 21 from Vandenberg's Pad 4. However, during countdown the ullage rockets and separation systems on the Agena fired and the payload was severely damaged. The Thor rocket needed repairs and would later launch Discoverer 12. A second satellite, Agena 1022, and a new Thor missile, No. 163, were readied for launch.
The first actual CORONA program launch was on 28 Feb 1959. Discoverer 1 used Agena satellite vehicle 1022 and Thor missile No. 163. The Thor Agena climbed away from pad 4 on complex 75-3 at Vandenberg, but after six minutes contact was lost. For several days its fate was uncertain, but from 2 to 5 March intermittent signals and radar contacts were claimed by a variety of ground stations from the tumbling, out of control, satellite. The CORONA history reports that as of the early 1970s the program remembered the first launch as a probable failure which presumably made a suborbital flight to impact near the South Pole. While this is not impossible, since there have been other cases of signals being apparently received from satellites which were later discovered to have never reached orbit, the quantity and variety of reports over a period of several days reported by the New York Times originally led me to prefer the standard, 1959, version of events over the revisionist, 1970s, version. The Commander's Report states
Injection angle of -2.5 degrees caused lifetime of under seven days. No telemetry or radar contacts made. Sporadic doppler sightings confirmed orbit. Vehicle believed damaged structurally and/or thermally at injection or during first pass.
However, in a filmed 1996 TV interview Col. Frank Bouchard, the USAF officer who signed the report claiming success said he actually believes the Agena never entered orbit.
Satellite tables still list Discoverer with the international designation 1959 Beta. The RAE Table of Earth Satellites gives an orbit of 163 x 968 km with an inclination of 89.7 degrees, and a reentry date of Mar 5, while Space Command's Satellite Catalog gives an orbit of 114 x 697 km with an inclination of 90.0 degrees and a reentry date of Mar 3.
| CORONA 1 | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1959 Feb 28 | 2149:16 | Launch by Thor Agena A | V, Pad 4 |
| 2151 | Thor MECO (T+2:40) | ||
| 2151 | Thor VECO (T+2:49) | ||
| 2151 | Thor sep (T+2:54) | ||
| 4.2428km/s | |||
| 2151 | Coast, 164s | ||
| 2154 | Agena 1022 burn (T+5:38) | ||
| 2156 | Agena 1022 cutoff due (T+7:15) | ||
| 2156 | Last contact | ||
| Radar data 295 km, -2.5 deg, 7.9km/s | |||
