Saturday, January 31, 1998
Kosmos 38
1964-046A
The first three Strela-1 test satellites were launched on 1964 Aug 18 aboard the two-stage 65S3 launch vehicle from Baikonur into a 56 degree orbit, to demonstrate the multiple launch deployment system.hey carried simple beacons. The first payload carried an experimental nuclear radioisotope thermoelectric generator , `Prototype No. 5', which produced 10 watts of electricity.
| Kosmos-38 | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1964 Aug 18 | 0915 | Launch by 65S3 | KB |
| 0917 | Stage 2 burn | ||
| 0923? | Stage 2 MECO | 206 x 769 x 56.1 | |
| 1964 Nov 8 | 1900? | Reentered | |
Explorer 1
1958-001
Explorer I was launched on 1958 Feb 1 by a Jupiter C (Juno I) rocket from the Air Force Missile Test Center at Cape Canaveral. It reached orbit 7 min 8 sec after liftoff. Explorer I transmitted radiation data until Mar 15; the last transmission from the satellite was around Apr 1. Explorer I reentered on 1970 Mar 31.
The Redstone rocket separated 2 min after launch after burning out at an altitude of 100 km. It reached an apogee of 360 km and impacted 1400 km downrange. The upper stages fired roughly horizontally to increase payload speed; stage 2 impacted 2040 km downrange, stage 3 at 3092 km downrange.
The cluster gave slightly higher velocity than expected and the insertion angle was 0.9 deg higher than planned. Planned orbit was 352 x 1904 x 34.1 deg.
The satellite was 2.0m long and 0.15m in diameter. The rocket nozzle was 0.20 m long, the cylindrical rocket motor itself was 0.91 m long. The cylindrical part of the payload was 0.61m long, and the nosecone was 0.30 m long. Mass was 13.9 kg, with 5.7 kg for the rocket and 8.2 kg for the payload. The largest part of the payload was the SUI cosmic ray and micrometeorite experiment package, with the high power transmitter below it. Micrometeorite erosion gauges were carried on the aft part of the rocket motor casing, which also served as part of the low power antenna system. Temperature measurements were also transmitted.
The internal satellite temperature ranged from 0 to 35C, with the outer shell ranging from -25 to 75C. The cosmic ray count at perigee was about 30 to 40 events per second over California, but at apogee over the South Atlantic the count rate saturated at over 35000 counts per second - this was the discovery of the Earth's trapped radiation belts. The micrometeorite experiment indicated lots of hits, but these were probably spurious.
| Explorer I | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 Feb 1 | 0347:56 | Launch by Juno I | CC |
| 0350:32 | Redstone cutoff T+2:36 | ||
| T+2:42 Redstone sep, 105 km | |||
| 0354:39 | Stage 2 burn T+6:43, 362 km | -5873 x 363 | |
| 0354:46 | Stage 2 cutoff T+6:50 | ||
| 0354:48 | Stage 3 burn T+6:52 | ||
| 0354:54 | Stage 3 cutoff T+6:58 | ||
| 0354:58 | Redstone apogee 364 km | ||
| 0354:58 | Stage 4 burn T+7:02 | ||
| 0355:04 | Stage 4 burnout T+7:08, 367 km | 359 x 2542 x 33.4 | |
| 1958 Feb 13 | High power transmitter failed | ||
| 1958 Mar 15 | Last radiation data | ||
| 1958 Apr 1 | End of transmissions | ||
| 1970 Mar 31 | Reentry | ||
Payload:
- Cosmic ray package, Geiger counter
Friday, January 30, 1998
Tuesday, January 27, 1998
Kosmos 10
1962-054
Zenit-2 No. 5 was launched in Oct 1962 on a 4 day flight. It replaced the Baikal TV camera with two extra SA-20 cameras, making the Ftor-2R complex. It also carried a radiation study payload. The cabin landed 150 km SW of Akmolinsk on Oct 21.
| Kosmos-10 | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1962 Oct 17 | 0900 | Launch by Vostok | KB LC1 |
| 0904? | Blok-A sep | ||
| 0909 | Blok-E sep | ||
| 90.2 210 x 380 x 65.0 (TASS) | |||
| 1923 | 90.17 196 x 368 x 65.0 | ||
| 1962 Oct 21 | 0720? | Retrofire | |
| 0750 | Landed after 4d | ||
Sunday, January 25, 1998
Tiros 4
1962-002A
Tiros IV (A-09, Tiros D), the fourth hatbox Tiros, was launched on 1962 Feb 8 at 1244, by Delta (317/2020/3020) and transmitted until 1962 Jul 19. The launch vehicle placed it in an orbit with a somewhat higher apogee than planned. In Dec 1993 Tiros IV was in a 693 x 812 km x 48.3 deg orbit.
Tiros IV pioneered ice reconnaissance with the NASA/WBu/USN/Canada project TIREC which compared airbone imagery with satellite data. The NASA/USAF Project Bright Cloud studied classification of cloud shape and brightness.
Archival TLEs for Tiros 4 are more consistent with an 1144 UTC launch time, but the primary source documents seem consistent; an error in the TLEs seems indicated.
| Tiros 4 | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1962 Feb 8 | 1243:45 | Launch by Delta | CC LC17A |
| T+2:20 Altitude 80 km | |||
| 1245:24 | T+2:39 Thor 317 MECO | -5456 x 619 x 47.25 | |
| 1245:29 | T+2:44 Delta 2020 SES 1:48 | ||
| T+3:04 Fairing | |||
| 1248:17 | T+4:32 Delta SECO | -3793 x 743 x 48.1 | |
| Coast for 7:15 | |||
| 1255:30 | T+11:45 St 3 spin rockets | ||
| 1255:32 | T+11:47 St 2 sep | -3787 x 742 x 48.1 | |
| 1255:45 | T+12:00 Altair X248A5 SV-117 3020 burn | ||
| 1256:27 | T+12:42 Altair burnout | ||
| 1306 | Delta St 2 reentry, impact, 17W 48N? | ||
| 1306:56 | T+22:50 Altair sep | ||
| 1310:45 | Tiros despin | ||
| 723 x 873 x 48.3 (DAC vels) | |||
| 721 x 855 x 48.30 (DAC) | |||
| 706 x 833 x 48.3 | |||
| 1962 Jul 19 | End of tx | ||
Luna 15
1969-058A
E-8-5 No. 401 was successfully launched on 1969 Jul 13, only three days before Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins left for the Moon. It was named Luna-15. Attitude errors during descent led to late braking ignition and the vehicle crashed.
| Luna-15 | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1969 Jul 13 | 0254:42 | Launch by Proton-K | KB |
| 0304 | Stage 3 sep | ||
| 0306? | D MES-1 | ||
| 0309 | D MECO-1 | ||
| 0411:30 | D MES-2 | ||
| 0415 | First asc node | ||
| 0418? | D MECO-2 | ||
| 1969 Jul 14 | TCM | ||
| 1969 Jul 17 | 1000 | Lunar orbit insertion | 120.6 44 x 212 x 125.8 |
| 1969 Jul 19 | 1308 | TCM | 123.5 97 x 219 x 125.9 |
| 1969 Jul 20 | 1416 | Lower perigee | 114.3 16 x 110 x 126.7 |
| 1969 Jul 21 | 1539? | Aux tanks sep | |
| 1969 Jul 21 | 1542 | Retrofire | |
| 1969 Jul 21 | 15547 | Impact 17N 60E | |