Mars Polar Lander

 1999-001A

---

The MS 1998 Lander (Mars Polar Lander) is built by Lockheed Martin Astronautics and was launched on 1999 Jan 3 by Delta 7425. It was to land near the south pole at 195W 76S.

in Dec 1999. (the ice-free safe zone is 170 to 230W, 75 to 76S). It is 1.0m wide and 0.5m high. The aeroshell is based on the MPF aeroshell, but the lander uses a Viking-type rocket descent system. Attached to the aeroshell is a cruise stage with solar panels. The lander uses solar arrays for power, and will terminate operations as the winter begins. The Lander has four 22N REM engines used during cruise, using the same 64 kg hydrazine propellant tanks as the descent engines.

Aeroshell ejection is followed by propulsive terminal descent. The MARDI imager, mounted on the lander underside, operates during descent. The SSI imager, used on the surface, is similar to the MPF lander's.

Landing near the south pole is during local spring. MPL will dig a trench and collect soil samples for analysis. It will search for near surface ice and look for evidence of climatic changes: however,nothing was heard from the lander after scheduled Cruise Stage separation. A review board suggested the most likely cause was a design flaw in a touchdown sensor causing the engines to shut of at 40m altitude and impact at 55 kph; however, when the successor Phoenix mission was being ground-tested, it was discovered that the Cruise separation itself probably did not occur. A design error exposed critical parts of the separation system to excessively low temperatures which would have stopped them working. The aeroshell entered the atmosphere with the cruise stage still attached, and the spacecraft was probably destroyed and burnt up during entry.

Estimated impact location was 76.1S 195.3W.

Planned B-plane miss at injection (+60000,-20000) km. Mass injected: 583 kg, with PAM-D 2141 kg full 132 kg empty. 1997 planned injection data: 11.165 km2/s2, RLA DLA =235.35, 0.92. Arival data at 125 km: 143.37 -62.57 az 173.69, fpa -13.25, V 6.91, for landing at 210,-76.

MPL
Date	Time	Event	Orbit
1999 Jan 3	2021:10	Launch Delta 7425	CC LC17B
		T+4:24 MECO
		T+4:32 Stage 1 sep
		T+4:37 Stage 2 burn
		T+4:42 Fairing sep
	2032:32	T+11:22 SECO-1	157 x 246 x 28.4
	2055:21	T+34:11 Stage 2 restart
	2055:40	T+34:30 SECO-2	237 x 770 x 28.4
	2056:33	T+35:23 Stage 2 sep
	2057:10	T+36:00 Stage 3 burn
	2058:38	T+37:28 TECO 293 km 11.434 km/s	0.97 x 1.45 AU
		T+42:10 Yo-yo deploy
	2103:25	T+42:15 Stage 3 sep	185 x -84447 x 28.43
		Deploy solar panels
1999 Jan 4	0543	Pass EL1:4
1999 Jan 8	1548?	Exit Earth sphere 1.5Mkm
1999 Jan 21	1227	TCM-1, 3min 16m/s
1999 Mar 16	1305	TCM-2, 10s, 0.9m/s
1999 Sep 1	1700s	TCM-3, site adjust 2.3m/s
1999 Oct 30	1728	TCM-4 site adjust 12s
1999 Nov 30	1800	TCM-5 0.1m/s 3.5 Mkm from Mars
1999 Dec 1	0615	Enter Mars sphere
1999 Dec 2	0000?	PAM-D enter Mars sphere
1999 Dec 3	1339	TCM-6, 8s
1999 Dec 3		Mars arrival OWLT = 14m
	1949	Transmitter off
		E-7h TCM-5 at 125000 km
	1951:00	E-5min L-10 min Cruise stage sep
	1951:18	DS2 sep
	1955	DS2 entry
	1956	E-0 L-5 Entry 6.91 km/s, 125 km, -13.1 deg
		E+0:33 Hypersonic ops begin
	1958	E+2:30 Parachute deploy 7.3 km
		E+2:37 MARDI imaging begins
		E+2:37 Aeroshell sep
		E+2:39 Landing legs deployed
		E+2:40 Landing radar on
		E+4:00 Radar lock, 2.5 km
	2000	E+4:00 Backshell sep 1.8 km
		E+4:01 Landing engines on
1999 Dec 3	1959	DS2 impact
	2001	Landing
	2000	PAM-D pass at 63000 km
1999 Dec 5	1600?	PAM-D leave Mars sphere
2000 Feb 29		End primary mission

Payload:

• MARDI Mars Descent Imager

• LIDAR Lidar (light detection and ranging) for dust and aerosols, IKI/RKA

• MVACS Mars Volatile and Climate Surveyor

  • SSI Stereo surface imager

  • RA Robotic arm (2m)

  • RAC Robotic arm camera

  • TEGA Thermal and evolved gas analyzer

  • MET Meteorological package

STS-46 (Atlantis)

 1992-049A

---

The EURECA deploy was delayed one day because of intermittent data problems. After deploy, Atlantis separated to 290m and remained there an extra orbit. Five hours after the 12m boom was extended, the subsatellite was released for the first flyaway. However, the release was aborted after only 10 cm of tether was deployed, and after 13 minutes the satellite was reeled back in to the docking clamp. On the next orbit, the flyaway began again. This time the tether snagged at a distance of 220m, on a bolt in the deployer mechanism.

STS-46
Date	Time	Event	Orbit
1992 Jun 4		Tow to VAB
1992 Jun 6		ET mate	VAB/1
1992 Jun 11		Rollout	LC39B
1992 Jul 31	1356:48	Launch from LC39B
	1358:53	SRB sep
	1405:16	MECO	89.36 65 x 420 x 28.5 (OMS dV)
	1405:35	ET sep
	1438:11	OMS-2 3:44 107m/s
	1441:54	OMS-2 CO
	1511		93.11 420 x 433 x 28.5
	1535	PLBD open
	1945	RMS checkout
1992 Aug 1	0130	Eureca grappled
	0225?	Eureca unberth by RMS
		Deploy delayed
	1859		93.12 422 x 432 x 28.5
1992 Aug 2	0707	RMS deploy EURECA
	0708?	RCS sep
	1700?		93.11 422 x 431 x 28.5
1992 Aug 3	1054:13	OMS-3 1:10 36m/s Orbit lowered for TSS
	1055:23	OMS-3 CO
	1139:22	OMS-4 1:10 37m/s Orbit lowered
	1140:32	OMS-4 CO
	2322		90.48 294 x 301 x 28.5
1992 Aug 4	1600?	TSS boom extend begins
	1630	Boom extended
	2001	U2 umbilical disconnect
	2115	TSS flyaway 1, abort at 10cm
	2134	TSS reeled back
	2250:47	TSS flyaway 2	90.49 295 x 301 x 28.5
	2347	Snag at 179m
1992 Aug 5		Snag at 256m
	0100?		90.48 295 x 301 x 28.5
	1301	Reel in to 224m
	2155	TSS reel in begins
	2252:47	TSS docked on boom
	2326	TSS power down
	2337	TSS boom retract
1992 Aug 6	0003	TSS retracted and latched
	0939:06	OMS-5 to lower orbit for EOIM ops, 33s 18m/s
	0939:40	OMS-5 CO	89.21 234 x 236 x 28.5
	1023:14	OMS-6 35s 20m/s
	1023:51	OMS-6 CO	89.13 227 x 235 x 28.5
1992 Aug 7	0126		89.12 227 x 234 x 28.5
	2200		89.09 225 x 232 x 28.5
1992 Aug 8	0935	PLBD closed
	1217:09	OMS DO (2:03) 68m/s
	1219:13	OMS DO CO
	1239:53	Entry interface 120 km
	1311:50	Landed KSC RW33
	1312:05	NGTD
	1312:55	Wheels stop
	1530	Tow to OPF	OPF/2

Aiming for the Stars

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Zond 3

  1965-056A

---

3MV-4 No. 3 was launched on 1965 Jul 18 on a mission to test out the reliability of planetary probes. The modified Mars probe made a lunar flyby and returned pictures of the lunar surface. It was named Zond-3.

Zond-3
Date	Time	Event	Orbit
1965 Jul 18	1432:05	Launch by 8K78	KB
	1437?	Blok A sep
	1437?	Blok I burn
	1441?	Blok I sep
	1552?	BOZ burn
	1553?	Blok L burn
	1557?	Blok L sep
1965 Jul 20	0124	Start lunar photos at 11600 km ht
	0224?	Perilune, 9220 km
	0232	End lunar photos at 10000 km ht
1965 Sep 15		TCM in solar orbit
1966 Mar		End of ops
1966 Dec		Reactivated for test transmission

Payload:

• Lunar mapping camera

STS-84 (Atlantis)

 1997-023A

---

STS-84 was another Spacehab-DM flight to Mir. A late addition to the Spacehab, in April, was a replacement Elektron oxygen generator. Although the plan was for MS Foale to replace Linenger aboard Mir, after the space station's equipment failures preparations were made in case both Foale and Linenger would return to Earth after the docking. In the event, the Mir troubles were deemed to be resolved and British-born Foale took his place aboard Mir.

STS-84's crew was remarkably international. The US-born crew members were commander Precourt, pilot Collins, and mission specialist Lu; Foale and Peruvian-born Carlos Noriega were also US citizens. They were joined by Elena Kondakova of the Russian Space Agency and French citizen Jean-Francois Clervoy of the European Space Agency.

Atlantis was launched on 1997 May 15 and docked with Mir early on May 17. Undocking on May 22 was a direct R-bar separation. In contrast to earlier missions, no flyaround of Mir was performed due to software modifications.

STS-84
Date	Time	Event	Orbit
1997 Apr 19	2130	Roll to VAB
		Mate to ET
1997 Apr 24	1230	Rollout to LC39A
1997 May 15	0807:48	Launch
	0809:52	SRB sep T+2:04
	0816:20	MECO T+8:32	82 x 296 x 51.65
	0816:30	ET sep
	0851:52	OMS-2 23m/s 48s	89.04 158 x 296 x 51.65
	0945:56	PLBD open
	1147	NC1 OMS-3 33m/s 68s
	1200		90.18 270 x 296 x 51.65
	2347	NC2 OMS-4 3m/s 11s
	2350		90.26 277 x 296 x 51.65
1997 May 16	0600		90.26 277 x 296 x 51.65
	1056	NC3 OMS-5 28m/s 58s
	1200		91.26 277 x 395 x 51.65
	2220	NC4 OMS-6 27m/s 54s
	2255	NCC RCS 0.4m/s 5s
	2353	TI burn OMS-7 2m/s 9s	92.31 379 x 396 x 51.66
1997 May 17	0015	MC1 RCS 0.1m/s 1s
	0047	MC2 RCS 0.6m/s 8s
	0057	MC3 RCS 0.1m/s 1s
	0107	MC4 RCS 0.3m/s 1s
	0233	Docking with Mir
	0241	Hard dock
	0425	Hatch open
	1000		92.34 382 x 396 x 51.66
	1415	Foale to Mir 23 crew
	1415	Linenger to STS-84 (122:04:30 as Mir crew)
		Elektron O2 generator transferred
1997 May 18	1200		92.34 383 x 395 x 51.66
1997 May 21	1240	Hatch closed
1997 May 22	0103:56	Undocked	92.34 384 x 393 x 51.7
	0109	Stationkeep at 27m
	0113	Resume sep
	0117	Stationkeep at 90 m
	0121	Resume sep
	0134	Stationkeep at 450 m
	0141	Resume sep
	0152	Leave corridor at 1 km
	0330		92.25 376 x 393 x 51.7
1997 May 24	0815	PLBD closed	376 x 392 x 51.6
	1223:33	OMS DO 3:09 101m/s
	1226:42	OMS cutoff	33 x 394 x 51.6
	1256	Entry interface 115 km
	1327:44	MGTD KSC RW33 9:05:19:56
	1327:52	NGTD
	1328:35	Wheels stop

Aviation Week: July 24,2000

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Town and Country: April 2000

 https://welib.org/md5/5a1c8b9f22b52f1ed113e76c2b5e0da3

Soyuz TM-27

 1998-004A

---

Soyuz TM-27 was launched in Jan 1998 with a new EO-25 Mir crew. Commander was Talgat Musabaev, flight engineer Budarin and Leopold Eyharts, cosmonaut-researcher. Eyharts's flight was the CNES Pegase mission.

Soyuz TM-27
Date	Time	Event	Orbit
1998 Jan 29	1633:42	Launch by Soyuz-U
		T+1:59 Strapons sep
		T+2:42 Fairing sep
		T+4:47 Blok A sep
		T+5:00 Interstage sep
	1642:31	T+8:49 Blok I sep
	2009:24s	TCM1
	2059:12s	TCM2
1998 Jan 30	1732:29s	TCM3
1998 Jan 31	1602:41s	TCM4
	1648:05s	TCM5
	1754:30	Docking with Kvant +X

Payload:

• Physiolab, cardiovascular study

• Congeal, central nervous system

• Fertile Bio payload: salamanders

• Alice II (fluids at critical point)

• Castor (microvibration and structures)

Soyuz TM-27 was redocked to another port. Mir rotated 180 degrees in the horizontal plane.

Soyuz TM-27 flight 2
Date	Time	Event	Orbit
1998 Feb 20	0848:20	Undocked Kvant +X
		back off to 30-70m
		Mir rotation
		reapproach
	0932:21	Docked Mir -X

In Aug 1998, the Kristall crew, Musabaev, Budarin and Baturin boarded the craft for the return to Earth. At undocking, mass was 6740 kg (BO 1204 kg, SA 2867 kg). Landing was at 47 57 07N 69 37 50E. Flight duration was 207d 12h 51m02s.

Soyuz TM-27 flight 3
Date	Time	Event	Orbit
1998 Aug 24	2258s	Hatch closed
1998 Aug 25	0204:55	Undocked Mir -X
	0211:00	DPO burn, 8s	363 x 372 x 51.7
	0431:18	Deorbit, 4:21
	0435:39	DO CO	-17? x 364 x 51.6
	0456?	Modules sep
	0459?	Entry
	0524:44	Landed

Progress M-41

 1999-015A

---

Progress M-41 was launched in Apr 1999 amid continuing uncertainty about Mir's financial future. It carried 2438 kg of cargo. Launch mass was 7180 kg.

Progress M-41
Date	Time	Event	Orbit
1999 Apr 2	1128:43	Launch by Soyuz-U	KB LC1
	1137:32	Sep from Blok-I
1999 Apr 4	1246:49	Docked with Kvant
1999 Jul 17	1120	Undocked
	1918	Deorbit
	1951	Reentered

American Culture, American Tastes : Social Change and the 20th Century

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Spaceflight: May 2000

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T1

 1998-012B

---

Teledesic's first satellite, T1, was an Orbital/Dulles Microstar class experimental satellite with a Boeing Ka-band comms payload. T1 was launched together with SNOE on a Pegasus XL in Feb 1998. Prior to launch, a cover story was put out that the satellite was BATSAT, the Broadband Advanced Technology Sat, a Texas Space Grant Consortium small technology satellite which would transmit test signals at Ka and X band to study signal attenuation in conjunction with JPL/DSN. The connection with Teledesic only came out once the satellite was in orbit.

The satellite is 154lb and 0.64m diameter.

T1
Date	Time	Event	Orbit
1998 Feb 26	0605	L-1011 takeoff from VAFB
	0707	Pegasus XL launch over Pacific
		Stage 2 burn
		Stage 3 burn
		SNOE sep
		T1 sep
1998 Feb 28	1738		95.81 534 x 581 x 97.8
1998 Aug 19	1604:13	end of ops
2000 Oct 9		Reentered

Our first hundred years : Rockford Country Club

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Fleetsatcom 1

 1978-016A

---

The first US Navy Fleet Communications Satellite, FLTSATCOM F1, was launched on 1978 Feb 9 by an Atlas Centaur and stationed at 100W, the FLTSATCOM America position.

FLTSATCOM F1
Date	Time	Event	Orbit
1978 Feb 9	2117:01	Launch by Atlas Centaur	CC
		T+2:21 Booster sep
		T+4:08 SECO
		T+4:08 Atlas sep
	2121	T+4:18 MES-1
		Fairing
	2127	T+10:04 MECO-1	148 x 368 x 28.5
	2142	T+25:10 MES-2 1:37
	2143	T+26:47 Centaur MECO	167 x 35957 x 26.46
	2146	Centaur sep	620.4 172 x 35263 x 26.4
	2150?	Centaur venting
		16C,D in Centaur orbit
			633.98 165 x 35970 x 26.5 (TLE)
1978 Feb 10	0300?	Apo 1
	1400?	Apo 2
	2330?	Apo 3
1978 Feb 11
	1100?	Apo 4 over 20W
	2100?	Apo 5 over 170W
1978 Feb 11	2045?	Star 37 AKM burn at 5th apo
1978 Feb 13			1440.40 35716 x 36025 x 2.7 GEO 171.6W+1.0W
1978 Feb 15			1426.26 35522 x 35665 x 2.8 GEO 172.4W+2.5E
1978 Mar 15			1426.15 35522 x 35660 x 2.7 GEO 101.5W+2.5E
1978 Mar 16?		mv in
1978 Apr 14			1436.01 35752 x 35817 x 2.7 GEO 100.7W+0.0E
1978 May 2			1436.03 35741 x 35829 x 2.6 GEO 100.4W
1979 Jan 4			1436.06 35778 x 35792 x 2.1 GEO 99.5W
1980 Jan 29			1436.03 35776 x 35794 x 1.3 GEO 99.8W
1981 Jan 2			1436.02 35770 x 35800 x 0.8 GEO 100.0W
1982 Jan 1			1436.18 35765 x 35810 x 0.8 GEO 100.2W
1983 Jan 5			1436.11 35761 x 35811 x 1.5 GEO 99.3W
1984 Jan 1			1436.05 35770 x 35800 x 2.4 GEO 99.7W
1986 Jan 1			1436.18 35785 x 35792 x 4.2 GEO 100.4W
1987 Aug 11			1436.20 35759 x 35818 x 5.7 GEO 100.7W
1987 Aug 31		mv out	1442.80 35910 x 35925 x 5.8 GEO 127.4W+1.7W
1987 Oct 20		mv in	1436.11 35776 x 35797 x 5.9 GEO 177.6W
1988 Jan 3			1436.21 35771 x 35806 x 6.1 GEO 177.3W
1989 Jan 1		Backup status	1436.20 35775 x 35801 x 7.0 GEO 177.2W
1990 Jan 14			1436.06 35765 x 35806 x 8.0 GEO 176.7W
1992 Sep 4			1436.02 35773 x 35796 x 10.3 GEO 177.2W
1992 Sep 8		mv out	1473.69 36495 x 36543 x 10.3
1992 Oct		Moved to AOR
1992 Oct 6		mv in	1436.17 35765 x 35811 x 10.3 GEO 15.4W
1993 Jan 2			1436.08 35777 x 35795 x 10.5 GEO 14.5W
1994 Jan 4			1436.05 35777 x 35792 x 11.3 GEO 14.6W
1996 Dec 17			1436.08 35766 x 35806 x 13.0 GEO 15.0W
1996 Dec 23		Move out to IOR	GEO 15W
1996 Dec 26		mv out	1427.65 35612 x 35630 x 13.0 GEO 0.3E+2.2E
1997 Feb 12		mv in	1436.11 35766 x 35807 x 13.1 GEO 72.3E
1997 Mar 4			1436.11 35762 x 35811 x 13.1 GEO 72.2E

Club Management: May-June 2000

 https://welib.org/md5/d9b7c00aca6a2ffad9f35ea8bc49fdd8

Servants of nature: a history of scientific institutions, enterprises, and sensibilities

 https://welib.org/md5/551678c9a6a713a2f61585724942bf5d

Mars Climate Orbiter

 1998-073A

---

The Mars Surveyor 1998 Orbiter was named the Mars Climate Orbiter. MS98 Orbiter will be launched by Delta 7425 on 10 Dec 1998 onto a Type 2 trajectory. It is built by Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver. MCO arrives at Mars in Sep 1999. Mass is 629 kg full, 338 kg dry with 291 kg fuel. Size is 2.1m tall, 1.6m wide, 2.0m deep with 5.5m span. MCO has an equipment module (EM) and a biprop main engine, which is used only for Mars orbit insertion. It will use aerocapture and aerobraking to reach operational orbit.

MS98 will arrive at Mars between Sep 23 and Oct 4. The propulsion engine will fire to place MS98 in a 26 to 36 hr orbit until oxidizer depletion. Aerobraking will then go to sun-synch circular 400 km polar orbit, by Dec 3. The periapsis is over the S pole. The orbiter will serve as a UHF relay for the lander. Two year mapping mission, five year relay mission. The science mission will map the surface at high resolution, and study the distribution of water vapor and ozone. It also will study the transport of dust and water with latitude, the motions of weather systems and dust storms, and study the response to daily solar heating.

PMIRR gives a 5 km resolution vertical profile of temperature, dust, water vapor, and clouds. It also measures the radiative balance of the surface. It has a broadband visible channel and eight channels in the 6 to 50 micron range including high spectral res detectors in the 6.7mu H2O band and the 15 mu CO2 band.

The MARCI WA (wide angle) camera has 5 visible and 2 UV bands, with 7 km resolution in the final orbit. The MA camera has a 40m resolution over a 40 km FOV with ten channels in the visible, 4250A to 1 micron.

A navigation error meant that instead of passing 120 km from the planet, the closest approach was only 60 km. MCO was not heard from after it went behind the planet.

m1/m2 = 629 + 2141/132 = 2770 / 761,

TIP for Dec 10 launch 11.0315 km2/s2, DLA = -142.5576, 14.5768 at 185 km. RA =217.4424, Planned B-plane miss distance was B.R,B.T = (+60000, -60000) km according to the 1996 navigation memo included in the 1997 mission plan databook

MCO
Date	Time	Event	Orbit
1998 Dec 11	1845:51	Launch Delta 7425	CC LC17A
		T+1:03 SRM burnout
		T+1:06 SRM 1-4 sep
		T+4:21 MECO
		T+4:29 Stage 1 sep
		T+4:34 Stage 2 burn
		T+4:45 Fairing
	1857:08	T+11:17 SECO-1	185 x 198 x 28.3
	1924:32	T+38:41 Stage 2 restart
	1924:54	T+39:03 SECO-2	95.53 184 x 905 x 28.4
	1925:47	T+39:56 Stage 2 sep
	1925:24	T+40:33 Stage 3 burn
	1927:52	T+42:01 TECO	185 x -85207 x 28
	1932:34	T+46:43 Yoyo deploy
	1932:38	T+46:48 Stage 3 sep
		T+1h? Solar array deploy
	2005	T+1:20:00 Delta SES-3
	2005	T+1:20:18 SECO-3	95.52 194 x 892 x 24.5
1998 Dec 12	0418	Pass EL1:4
1998 Dec 16	1428?	Depart Earth sphere 1.5Mkm
1998 Dec 21	2133	TCM-1 2.8min 19.1m/s 2.87Mkm
1999 Mar 4	1335	TCM-2 8s 0.9m/s 17.8Mkm to Earth
1999 Jul 25	1200	TCM-3 3.3m/s
1999 Sep 14	1640	TCM-4 15s, 1.4m/s
1999 Sep 19	1617?	Enter Mars sphere 1.082Mkm
1999 Sep 21	0500?	PAM-D enter Mars sphere
1999 Sep 23	0831	Solar array stow
	0849:51	MOI-1 (Leros) 16:23	57 x ? x 90
	0858?	Destroyed?
	0906	MOI-1 cutoff
	0900?	PAM-D pass 83000? km from Mars
		Impact Martian surface
1999 Sep 25	1300?	PAM D depart Mars sphere

Planned post insertion
Date	Time	Event	Orbit
1999 Sep 23	0920	Solar array unstow
		MOI-2 RCS trim 0 to 7 min	160 x 38600 x 90 x 29h
1999 Sep 24		AB-1 MOI+14h Peri lower at first apo	110 x 38600
		Aerobraking
1999 Oct 15		20h, inc trim
1999 Nov 5		10h, inc trim
1999 Nov 19		5 h
1999 Nov 22		End AB	85 x 390
1999 Nov 22		TMO-1 Exit Aerobraking	405 x 437
1999 Nov 23		TMO-2	373 x 437
1999 Dec 1		Mapping orbit, 4PM SSO	373 x 437 x 92.9
1999 Dec 2		Lander Support Mission
2000 Mar 3		Mapping Mission begins
2002 Jan 15		Mars Relay Mission begins

29 44

Payload:

• LEROS engine 640N

• TCM thrusters (4 x 22N)

• MARCI MS98 Mars Color Imager: WA wide angle camera 800m res; MA medium angle camera 40m res, for weather studies.

• PMIRR Pressure modulated IR Radiometer

• UHF Lander comms relay

Kosmos 402

  1971-025A

---

The next US-A flight was Kosmos-402, launched in Apr 1971. It again tested the reactor separation system after only one day.

Kosmos-402
Date	Time	Event	Orbit
1971 Apr 1	1130:00	Launch by 11K69	KB
	1132	Stage 2 burn
	1134	Stage 2 sep
	1144	US-A DU burn
		US-A DU cutoff, orbit
	1154?	Stage 2 entry
	1200		89.71 247 x 274 x 65.0
1971 Apr 1	1441?	US-A orbit raise over KB, DU sep
	1533?	DV2
	1926		104.95 949 x 1034 x 65.0
1971 Apr 3	1407	(25B)	89.59 246 x 261 x 65.0
1971 Apr 6		DU reentered
1971 Apr 9	1430	Reactor section	104.94 948 x 1036 x 65.0 (25A)
1971 May 6	1355?	Radar section reentered

The Country Club

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Kosmos 597

  1973-071A

---

The next Zenit-4MK launch returned to use of the 11A57 launch vehicle. The 6 day mission of Kosmos-597 was flown during the Yom Kippur war.

Kosmos-597
Date	Time	Event	Orbit
1973 Oct 6	1230:00	Launch by 11A57	PL
	1234	Blok-I burn
	1238	Blok-I sep
	1813		89.56 205 x 289 x 65.4
	1900		89.45 206 x 290 x 65.42 (RAE)
1973 Oct 7	0011		89.43 204 x 288 x 65.4
		Lower orbit
1973 Oct 8	1430		89.07 207 x 251 x 65.42 (RAE)
	1501		89.07 206 x 250 x 65.4
1973 Oct 11	0355	Engine sep	88.75 200 x 226 x 65.45 (RAE)
1973 Oct 11	1200		89.03 202 x 250 x 65.4
1973 Oct 12	0630?	Retrofire
	0640?	PO sep
	0646?	Entry
	0700?	Landed after 5.8d

ITOS B

  1971-091

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The 306 kg ITOS B was launched on 1971 Oct 21 by two-stage Delta N from Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg. After Thor first stage burn, the Delta second stage ignited to enter transfer orbit. However one hour after launch prior to the Delta's second burn, the stage began to tumble. The second burn, intended to circularize the orbit, occurred on schedule but at the wrong orientation. The ITOS B satellite separated and reentered the atmosphere over the Arctic Circle. The second stage did remain in orbit and was tracked in a 102.5 min, 279 x 1474 km x 102.6 deg orbit from which it reentered on 1972 Jul 21. The failure was attributed to an oxidizer leak.

SECO-1 was at 1141 UTC. Restart should have been at about 1232 UTC.

In Aeronautics and Astronautics 1971 (NASA SP-4016) it says that during the post SECO-1 coast, pitch and yaw jets began firing to counteract an 'unknown force' until control gas was depleted and the vehicle tumbled. Delta restart (just south of equator crossing northbound) and spacecraft separation occurred at the planned times but `planned circular orbit was not achieved and spacecraft and Delta 2nd stage impacted above Arctic Circle'. This report was from quick-look information prior to the failure investigation.

On the other hand, NASA-GSFC TR-1022, Technical Summary of Unmanned Launch Operations, reports that the second burn failed when "the thrust chamber pressure decayed from 172 to 24 psi 7 seconds after ignition. Oxidizer depletion was the direct cause. Analysis of data indicated the oxidizer system developed a leak 42 seconds after liftoff that continued throughout the flight ... During the coast phase before the second burn started an external moment was acting on the vehicle, primarily in the yaw phase. The yaw right jet activated approximately once every second. The GN2 supply was depleted prior to the start of the second burn and the attitude control system failed.' So it looks as if the oxidizer leak caused the `unknown force' and was the main problem. Note that for NOAA 3, the second burn lasted 12 seconds.

- Is the spacecraft/Delta separation velocity really enough to allow the Delta stage to have a 300 km perigee but have the spacecraft perigee be in the atmosphere? I calculate this would have required a ~50 m/s (~160 fps) velocity difference. How did Delta reach orbit but ITOS didn't?

- I believe I am correct in understanding that in 1971 a Delta stage did not carry out a post-separation depletion burn - it was in 1972 that the first tests of a three-burn Delta were flown.

- In fact, to match an Arctic circle reentry, I calcuate ITOS-B must have been in an orbit between -82 x 1480 km and -835 x 1480 km, with impact between 1259 and 1310 UTC and a velocity change between 110 and 350 m/s. The inclination differences for the other debris objects are consistent with this magnitude of delta-V. This is more than just tumbling... some kind of explosive event?

- It's not clear what the transfer orbit perigee was. Was ITOS-B in orbit while attached to the Delta (albeit not making a complete orbit)? It would be nice to distinguish for the records whether it 'failed to orbit' or 'reached orbit and then was deorbited'.

- Does anyone have any other relevant documents or personal knowledge of the event?

ITOS B
Date	Time	Event	Orbit
1971 Oct 21	1132:00	Launch by Delta N6	V
		SRM 1-3 burn
	1132:42	St 2 oxidizer leak begins
		SRM 4-6 burn
	1135:44	T+3:44 MECO
	1135	St 1 sep
	1135	SES-1 6:14
	1141	SECO-1	-100? x 1480? x 102.6
	1232?	SES-2
	1232?	SECO-2 T+7s?	102.5 279 x 1474 x 102.6
	1238?	St 2 sep
		Explosion?
	1240?	ITOS-B orbit	-500? x 1479 x 102.6
	1303?	ITOS B reentered