Explorer 16

 1962-070

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The first successful satellite in the series was S-055B, which became Explorer 16 on reaching orbit. It carried an array of different kinds of micrometeorite detectors. Launch was on 1962 Dec 16 at 1433 by a Scout X-3 from Wallops into a 750 x 1181 km x 52.0 deg orbit. The satellite successfully measured the penetration rate of small meteoroids. It operated until 1963 Jul 25. In Dec 1993 its orbit was 744 x 1159 km.

Explorer 16
Date	Time	Event	Orbit
1962 Dec 16	1433	Launch by Scout X-3
		T+1:08? St 1 Algol burnout 30 km 1.22 km/s
		T+1:25? St 2 Castor burn
		T+2:07? St 2 burnout 91 km 2.90 km/s
		T+2:13? Fairing sep
		T+2:13? St 3 Antares burn
		T+2:45? St 3 burnout 160 km?
		T+9:40? St 3 sep	-4526? x 747 x 52.04
		T+9:41? St 4 Altair burn
	1443	St 4 burnout	104.37 746 x 1183 x 52.04
1963 May 29		main telemetry channel failed
1963 Jul 25		end of ops

Payload:

• Micrometeorite microphone impact detectors

• Grid detector