Wednesday, April 26, 2000
Vortex 11
1984-009A
A rumour that VORTEX 11 had a Transtage failure and was stranded in transfer orbit was probably incorrect and arose from the DoD's practice of only announcing the transfer and not the final orbit.
| VORTEX 11 | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 Jan 31 | 0308:00 | Launch by Titan 34D/Transtage | CC |
| T+1:50 Stage 1 ignition | |||
| T+2:02 SRM sep | |||
| T+4:35 St 1 sep | |||
| 0312 | T+4:45 Fairing sep | ||
| 0316 | Stage 2 MECO | ||
| 0316 | T+8:05 Stage 2 sep | ||
| 0330? | Transtage burn 1 (310s) | ||
| 0335? | Burn 1 cutoff | ||
| 5h15m coast | |||
| 0850? | Transtage burn 2 (110s) | ||
| 0852? | Burn 2 cutoff | ||
| 0900? | Transtage sep | ||
| 1984 Feb 1 | (r/b) | 96.3 145 x 1022 x 29.3 | |
| 1984 Feb 10? | 1436.0 31200 x 40200 x 5.0 | ||
Tuesday, April 25, 2000
Kosmos 1870
1987-064A
Almaz earth observation platform, 4.1 dia x 7 l. 2.5 kW solar power, 4 tonne payload. Kosmos-1870 was Mech-K No. 304 and was the Soviet Union's first radar imager.
| Kosmos-1870 | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 Jul 25 | 0900:00 | Launch by Proton | KB |
| Stage 1 sep (T+2:06) | |||
| Stage 2 sep (T+5:34) | |||
| Stage 3 MECO (T+9:30) | |||
| 0909:44 | Stage 3 sep (T+9:44) | ||
| 1987 Jul 25.5 | 88.40 160x231x71.94 | ||
| 1987 Jul 25.7 | 88.65 159x256x71.9 | ||
| 1987 Jul 28.5 | 89.36 237x249x71.9 from 88.54 157x247 | ||
| 1987 Jul 29.3 | 89.55 245x260x71.9 | ||
| 1987 Aug 10 | 89.58 252x256x71.9 from 89.48 241x256 | ||
| 1987 Aug 22 | 89.55 247x258x71.9 from 89.50 247x252 | ||
| 1987 Sep 3 | 89.58 242x265x71.9 from 89.45 242x253 | ||
| 1987 Sep 15 | 89.56 244x262x71.9 from 89.49 238x261 | ||
| 1987 Sep 26 | 89.57 241x265x71.9 from 89.47 240x257 | ||
| 1987 Nov 1 | 89.58 239x269x71.9 from 89.42 238x253 | ||
| 1987 Nov 13 | 89.58 245x262x71.9 from 89.45 232x263 | ||
| 1987 Nov 26 | 89.58 246x262x71.9 from 89.45 240x256 | ||
| 1987 Dec 8 | 89.57 251x256x71.9 | ||
| 1987 Dec 18 | 89.55 245x259x71.9 from 89.48 246x251 | ||
| 1987 Dec 30 | 89.58 242x266x71.9 from 89.46 242x254 | ||
| 1988 Jan 11 | 89.59 247x261x71.9 from 89.47 237x260 | ||
| 1988 Jan 23 | 89.58 239x269x71.9 from 89.46 242x254 | ||
| 1988 Feb 4 | 89.55 244x260x71.9 from 89.47 237x260 | ||
| 1988 Feb 14 | 89.44 235x250x71.9 | ||
| 1988 Feb 16 | 89.60 245x264x71.9 from 89.42 238x254 | ||
| 1988 Feb 28 | 89.57 249x258x71.9 from 240x258 | ||
| 1988 Mar 10 | 243x265x71.9 from 243x257 | ||
| 1988 Mar 22 | 249x260x71.9 from 238x260 | ||
| 1988 Apr 4 | 89.59 241x268x71.9 | ||
| 1988 Apr 15 | 89.59 246x263x71.9 from 234x260 | ||
| 1988 Apr 27 | 254x255x71.9 from 240x255 | ||
| 1988 May 9 | 89.58 245x263x71.9 from 247x249 | ||
| 1988 May 21 | 89.59 253x255x71.9 from 89.45 239x256 | ||
| 1988 Jun 2 | 89.56 246x261x71.9 from 89.45 246x249 | ||
| 1988 Jun 14 | 89.59 246x263x71.9 from ? | ||
| 1988 Jun 25 | 89.66 253x262x71.9 from 89.46 238x257 | ||
| 1988 Jul 6 | 89.60 244x265x71.9 from 89.43 240x253 | ||
| 1988 Jul 19 | 89.58 249x259x71.9 from 89.47 237x259 | ||
| 1988 Jul 31 | 89.58 244x264x71.9 from 89.45 242x253 | ||
| 1988 Aug 12 | 89.60 250x260x71.9 from 89.44 237x256 | ||
| 1988 Aug 24 | 89.60 244x266x71.9 from 89.45 242x253 | ||
| 1988 Sep 5 | 89.60 252x258x71.9 from 89.41 234x259 | ||
| 1988 Sep 17 | 89.90 262x277x71.9 from 89.43 245x248 | ||
| 1988 Oct 11 | 89.96 264x281x71.9 from ? | ||
| 1988 Nov 3 | 89.90 263x277x71.9 from 89.61 248x262 via 89.73 259x264 | ||
| 1988 Nov 27 | 89.94 264x279x71.9 from 89.53 245x258 | ||
| 1988 Dec 21 | 89.91 263x277x71.9 from 89.60 249x261 | ||
| 1989 Jan 13 | 89.96 265x280x71.9 from 89.50 244x255 | ||
| 1989 Feb 6 | 89.98 267x280x71.9 from 89.53 246x257 | ||
| 1989 Mar 3 | 89.93 266x280x71.9 from 89.51 244x252 | ||
| 1989 Mar 27 | 90.00 267x282x71.9 from 89.48 243x255 | ||
| 1989 Apr 20 | 89.98 266x281x71.9 from 89.52 244x258 | ||
| 1989 May 13 | 89.91 264x276x71.9 from 89.56 246x260 | ||
| 1989 Jun 7 | 89.94 265x278x71.9 from 89.48 242x256 | ||
| 1989 Jul 1 | 89.99 266x281x71.9 from 89.49 241x257 | ||
| 1989 Jul 24 | 89.58 242x264x71.9 from 89.67 251x265 | ||
Monday, April 24, 2000
TOMS-EP
1996-037A
The TOMS-Earth Probe, TOMS-EP94, carried a single experiment, Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer Flight Model 3. TOMS FM1 had flown on Nimbus 7, and FM2 flew on a 1991 Meteor satellite. TOMS-EP, originally Earth Probe '93, had been intended for launch in 1993 to take over from TOMS FM2, which eventually failed in 1994. The problems with the Pegasus launch vehicle delayed it to 1996, placing it close to the planned launch of FM4 on Japan's ADEOS. Its mission was altered to lower the target orbit from the original 900 km to 500 km for higher resolution studies.
The TOMS instrument was derived from the older SBUV first flown on Nimbus 4 in 1970. Mission operations from GSFC.
In Jul 1996 it was finally launched on the fourth Pegasus XL, carried aloft by the L-1011 carrier plane from Vandenberg. The three stage Pegasus delivered it to an elliptical polar orbit.
A monopropellant hydrazine propulsion engine delivered TOMS-EP to its final circular orbit. TOMS used TRW's STEP/Eagle class T-200 Lightsat bus, based on Defense Systems (DSI) technology. Launch mass of TOMS-EP was 295 kg including 73 kg of propellant. The satellite is 1.8m long x 1.1m wide; with solar arrays deployed 2.4 x 3.9m.
| TOMS-EP94 | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 Jul 2 | L-1011 takeoff from Vandenberg | ||
| 0748 | T-0:05 Pegasus drop at 38kft, launch | ||
| T+0:00, D+0:05 Stage 1 burn | |||
| T+1:15 Stage 1 burnout | |||
| T+1:32 Stage 1 sep, stage 2 burn | |||
| D+2:27 Fairing | |||
| 0750 | D+2:41 Stage 2 burnout | ||
| 0753 | D+5:58 Pegasus stage 3 burn | ||
| 0754? | Stage 3 burnout | ||
| 0756 | D+8:07? Pegasus stage 3 sep | 345 x 953 x 97.4 (OSC) | |
| 1996 Jul 3 | 340 x 943 x 97.4 | ||
| 1996 Jul 5 | 97.56 340 x 943 x 97.4 | ||
| 1996 Jul 8 | Orbit raise | ||
| 1996 Jul 11 | 94.67 494 x 511 x 97.4 | ||
| 1996 Jul 25 | 94.66 494 x 510 x 97.4 | ||
| 1996 Aug 23 | 94.67 492 x 512 x 97.4 | ||
| 1997 Mar 15 | 94.61 489 x 509 x 97.4 | ||
| 1997 Dec 4 | 94.51 486 x 503 x 97.4 | ||
| 1997 Dec 6 | orbit raise | 94.96 498 x 535 x 97.57 | |
| 1997 Dec 7 | orbit raise | 95.51 497 x 588 x 97.87 | |
| 1997 Dec 8 | Orbit raise to replace ADEOS | 96.47 582 x 596 x 97.9 | |
| 1997 Dec 15 | orbit raise | 99.65 737 x 746 x 98.4 | |
| 1998 Jan 28 | 99.65 737 x 746 x 98.4 | ||
Sunday, April 23, 2000
Wednesday, April 19, 2000
Teamsat
1997-066A
MAQSAT-H (Maquette Satellite - haut) was developed for the Ariane 502 test launch. The dummy satellite was built by Kayser-Threde of Munchen. With a mass of 2300 kg (not including the 350 kg TEAMSAT?), it is placed above the SPELTRA and MAQSAT-B. It is a mockup of a comsat and has a dummy solar panel, together with accelerometers and other launch measurement instrumentation. On the SPELTRA mounting is an ACU 1194V satellite adapter (130 kg), and the 3.80m tall MAQSAT-H, a cone topped with a cylinder, above which is a dummy solar array and an antenna tripod on which acoustic sensors are mounted. Inside MAQSAT-H and mounted directly on the ACU is TEAMSAT.
TEAMSAT is Technology Educational Experiment Added to MAQSAT, an ESTEC experiment package with a mass of 350 kg. With a battery-powered one-week life, TEAMSAT carried a camera to record launch events. Once in GTO, it will eject the 160 kg YES tether satellite which uses the SEDS deployer. YES was study tether deployment dynamics in GTO. [701] [702] but concerns about possible collision hazards led ESA to cancel the tether experiment. TEAMSAT also comprises the FPE, AVS and ODD experiments. The 2.5m diameter, 2.5m high ODD cylinder is painted 25 percent black and 75 percent white to aid in optical observations.
At EAP separation, an unexpected roll of the EPC core stage caused propellant to move to the edges of the tank, fooling the fuel gauge into shutting down the main engine 10 to 20s too early. This left the orbit several thousand km low; the EPC fell in the Pacific off New Guinea instead of near Ecuador. The EAP boosters sank in the Atlantic when their parachutes failed. Actual apogee was 27000 km instead of the planned 36000 km.
| Maqsat H | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 Oct 30 | 1343:08 | Ignition | |
| 1343:15 | Launch | ||
| 1345 | T+2:29 EAP Solids sep, 60 km | ||
| 1351 | T+8:24 Fairing sep | ||
| 1352 | EPC shutdown 0.21 km/s low | ||
| 1352 | T+9:48 EPC sep | -200? x 500? x 7 | |
| 1353 | T+9:56 EPS burn | ||
| 1401 | T+18:33 EPS MECO? | ||
| 1411 | T+27:26 EPS MECO | ||
| 1411 | T+27:54 EPS sep | ||
| 1412 | T+29:38 Speltra top sep from EPS | ||
| 1423 | EPS purging | 524 x 27000 | |
| 1420? | EPC reentry | ||
| 1997 Nov 2 | 0830 | TEAMSAT end of transmission | |
Payload:
- VTS Visual Telemetry System, camera
- FPE Flux Probe experiment, atomic oxygen concentration
- AVS Autonomous Vision System, for navigation and imaging
MAQSAT-B (Maquette - bas) was developed for the Ariane 502 test launch. The dummy satellite was built by Kayser-Threde of Munchen. An inverted cone with a mass of 1400 kg, it is placed below the SPELTRA and MAQSAT-H. MAQSAT-B has less instrmentation than MAQSAT-H. The lower SPELTRA section has an ACU (satellite adapter unit) mounted on top of the Ariane 5 VEB/EPS. MAQSAT-B has a length of 1.10m, the inverted cone pointing downward. Above MAQSAT-B is the SBS adapter, and above that is the dummy mass replacing the 550 kg AMSAT-DL Phase III-D satellite. Phase III-D and SBS total 630 kg.
Maqsat-B remained attached to the EPS stage.
Total mass is 2342 kg.
Payload:
- SBS Specific bearing structure 83 kg
- MaqSBS Additional support ring 105 kg
- Amsat Ballast to replace Amsat Phase 3D sat
Monday, April 17, 2000
Kosmos 1338
1982-011A
Two-tone telemetry; Medium res satellite
| Kosmos-1338 | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 Feb 16 | 1110 | Launch by Soyuz-U | Plesetsk |
| 1114 | Blok-I burn | ||
| 1118 | Blok-I sep | ||
| 1982 Feb 16 | 90.14 197x365x72.9 | ||
| 1982 Feb 19 | 92.31 351x424x72.9 from 90.17 202x364 | ||
| 1982 Feb 25 | 92.30 358x417x72.9 | ||
| 1982 Mar 1 | 92.30 359x415x72.9 | ||
| 1982 Mar 2 | |||
| 0634? | Deorbit | ||
| 0645? | PO sep | ||
| 0702? | Entry | ||
| 0718? | Landed | ||
Friday, April 14, 2000
Wednesday, April 12, 2000
Surveyor M-1
1964-082A
AC-4 was launched at 1425 on 1964 Dec 11 on the first attempt at a two-burn Centaur mission. The two-burn profile was needed for the parking orbit technique in which Surveyor probes would first be placed in Earth orbit, then injected into a precise lunar trajectory. Centaur AC-4 carried a simple model, M-1 of the Surveyor which reproduced the real probe's mass distribution, but not its detailed shape.
The first Centaur burn went well and orbit insertion was achieved at 1434 UT. The second burn, scheduled for 50s, should have inserted AC-4 into a 160 x 8000 km orbit, but when the engines ignited at 1459 on Dec 11, the stage was tumbling and rolling, and propellant didn't reach the pumps. AC-4 remained in a 87.8 min, 165 x 178 km x 30.7 deg orbit and reentered at around 0530 on Dec 12 over the South Pacific.
According to a NASA report the AC-4 flight showed that transfer of kinetic energy within the stage to the propellants at engine cutoff caused liquid instead of gaseous hydrogen to be vented. The liquid contacting the forward bulkhead caused the vehicle to tumble. Fixes to the venting and propellant management systems, including higher thrust ullage motors and slosh baffles, were successfully tested on AC-8.
| Surveyor M-1 | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1964 Dec 11 | 1425:02 | Launch by AC-4 | CC LC36A |
| 1427:32 | T+2:30 Atlas BECO 56 km Vi 2.848 km/s | -5979 x 108 | |
| 1427:35 | T+2:33 Booster jettison | ||
| Azimuth 102.5 deg | |||
| 1428:22 | T+3:20 panels sep 98 km Vi 3.307 km/s | -5782 x 134 | |
| 1428:26 | T+3:24 Fairing sep, 109 km 3.473 km/s | -5713 x 140 x 30.4? | |
| 1428:46 | T+3:44 Atlas SECO 116.9 km 3.636 km/s | ||
| 1428:48 | T+3:46 Atlas sep 118.6 km 3.637 km/s | ||
| 1428:56 | T+3:54 Centaur MES-1 338s 124.1 km 3.622 km/s | -5625 x 144 x 30.4 | |
| 1434:35 | T+9:33 Centaur MECO-1 168.5km 7.810km/s | 163 x 176 x | |
| 1439 | T+14:00 Centaur venting | ||
| 1439 | Centaur starts to tumble | ||
| 1442 | T+17:06 Fairing impact at 25 50N 70 33W | ||
| 1459:12 | T+34:10 Centaur MES-2 | 87.8 165 x 178 x 30.7 | |
| 2100? | end of tx | ||
| 1964 Dec 12 | 0530? | Reentered over Pacific after 10 orbits | |
Wednesday, April 5, 2000
Kosmos 848
1976-082A
Kosmos-848 flew with a 19KS capsule.
| Kosmos-848 | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 Aug 12 | 1330 | Launch by Soyuz-U | Plesetsk |
| 1334 | Blok-I burn | ||
| 1338 | Blok-I sep | ||
| 1976 Aug 12 | 89.58 204 x 302 x 62.8 | ||
| 1976 Aug 15 | Capsule sep | ||
| 1976 Aug 24 | 89.51 203 x 296 x 62.8 | ||
| 1976 Aug 25 | Landed after 12.6d | ||
| 0406? | Deorbit | ||
| 0416? | PO sep | ||
| 0423? | Entry | ||
| 0437? | Landed | ||