1977-106A
The Transit O-11 (Oscar-11) navigation satellite was modified to carry an additional SATRACK targeting experiment for the Trident missile. A `penthouse' was added to the Transit 5 class airframe containing GPS receivers. Trident missile tests from Canaveral carried GPS receivers replacing one RV, to measure the trajectory accurately. Transat would simulate all the error sources in a Trident test by switching to GPS receiver SATRACK mode for a 15 minute pass over Cape Canaveral, simulating a Trident missile in its coast phase. This enabled validation of the Trident tracking software. It was used later as a test tool for the Eastern Range.
The satellite was known as Transat (Translator Satellite according to the APL history but, more plausibly, TRANSIT + SATRACK in other sources). Transat was launched in Oct 1977 and operated as a SATRACK satellite until Jan 1984 when it joined the operational Navy Navigation Satellite System as NNS O-11 (30110-32). It was reported as still partially operational for SATRACK mode in 1992.
| Transat | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 Oct 28 | 0452:04 | Launch by Scout D-1 | V SLC5 |
| T+1:21 Stage 1 burnout | |||
| 0453:25 | T+1:21 Stage 2 burn | -6322 x 92 x 74.3 | |
| T+2:00 Stage 2 burnout | |||
| 0454:07 | T+2:03 Heatshield | ||
| 0454:14 | T+2:10 Stage 3 burn | -5973 x 349 x 85.5 | |
| 0454:48 | T+2:44 Stage 3 burnout | ||
| 0504:41 | T+12:37 Stage 3 sep | ||
| 0504:46 | T+12:42 Stage 4 burn | -4888 x 1112 x 88.5 | |
| 0505:21 | T+13:17 Stage 4 burnout | 1111 x 1114 x 90.0 (MOR) | |
| 0506? | Stage 4 sep | ||
| 0507? | Despin weights sep | ||
| 107.0 1069 x 1107 x 89.9 | |||
| 1984 Jan | end of SATRACK experiment | ||
| 1984 Mar 20 | In service as O-11 | ||
| 1988 Apr 6 | Switched to maintenance frequency | ||
| 1988 Sep 12 | Switched to op freq for tests | ||
| 1988 Sep 16 | Switched to maintenance freq | ||
| 1988 Sep 17 | 0950 | end of operations | |
No comments:
Post a Comment