Saturday, October 21, 1995

Radsat

 1972-076B


The P72-1 satellite, nicknamed Radsat, was launched on 1972 Oct 2 by Atlas Burner 2A from Vandenberg. A passive radar calibration target, Radcat, was also carried on the launch. P72-1 was built by Boeing. The satellite had a mass of 566 kg and was 2.1m long and 1.4m in diameter. The ARPA-501 instrument returned data on the gamma ray background and X-rays from the earth. ML-101 validated a new thermal coating later used on DSCS.

The satellite was in a noon-midnight 11:49 LTDN orbit.

Launch lists indicate this was probably an Atlas Burner 2. A Thiokol motor list shows a Star 26 (for a Burner 2A) launched on this date, but I think it may be an error as it omits the Oct 1971 Thor Burner 2A launch which we are confident had a Star 26.


P72-1
 

DateTimeEventOrbit  

1972 Oct 2  2011?  Launch by Atlas Burner 2  V BMRS A1 
  T+2:18?? BECO 
  T+4:37?? SECO 
  T+4:54?? VECO 
 2016  T+5:00? Atlas sep  -1250 x 740? x 98.4 
 2017  Coast 
 2016 T+5:00? 
 2026?  Star 37B burn, 42s  -1250? x 740 x 98.5  
 2029?  Star 37B sep 
   99.7 732 x 753 x 98.5

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