Thursday, March 2, 2000

STS-36 (Atlantis)

 1990-019A


Atlantis flight 6 was another classified military mission. The short flight entered the highest inclination orbit ever achieved by a Shuttle, 62 degrees. Normally, launches from Cape Canaveral are restricted to at most 57 degrees inclination to avoid passing too close to the US East Coast. It is believed that the main payload was a TRW/Lockheed Improved CRYSTAL (modified KH-11) imaging reconnaissance satellite.


STS-36 
 

DateTimeEventOrbit  

1990 Jan 19   Tow to VAB 
1990 Jan 25  1154  Rollout  LC39A 
1990 Feb 28  0750:22  Launch from LC39A 
 0752:25  SRB sep 
 0758:52  MECO   
 0759:10  ET sep 86.83 26? x 208? x 62.0 (OMS dV) 
 0822:20  OMS-2 1:45 51m/s?  
 0824:05  OMS-2 CO 
 0900?   88.55 196 x 208 x 62.0 
 0922:39  PLBD open 
 1200?   88.59 200 x 209 x 62.0 
 1342?  RCS? raise orbit 
 1431:13  OMS-3? raise orbit 
 1431:41  OMS-3 CO 
 1500?   89.47 243 x 243 x 62.0 
1990 Mar 1  0900?   89.45 241 x 253 x 62.0 
 1030  Asc node, start rev 18 
 1050?  Deployed Improved CRYSTAL? 
 1118  Desc node rev 18  
 1205Asc node, start rev 19 
 1801  Asc node, start rev 23 
 1846  Desc node S eq crossing (deploy opp?) 
 1910:22  OMS-4 L lower apogee 
 1910:37  OMS-4 CO 
 1930?   89.30 238 x 241 x 62.0 
1990 Mar 3  1141   89.27 236 x 240 x 62.0 
 1135:22  OMS-5 R lower perigee 
 1135:42  OMS-5 CO 
 1200   89.06 216 x 239 x 62.0 
1990 Mar 4  1141   89.03 215 x 237 x 62.0 
 1458:49  PLBD close 
 1711:17  OMS Deorbit 2:05 78m/s 
 1713:23  OMS DO CO 
 1737:40  Entry 
 1808:44  Landed RW23 EAFB 
 1808:55  Nose gear touchdown 
 1809:37  Wheels stop 
1990 Mar 11  1245SCA takeoff  EAFB 
 1700SCA landing  Biggs AAF, TX 
1990 Mar 12 0845SCA takeoff 
 1120SCA landing  Columbus AFB MS 
 1240SCA takeoff 
 1430SCA landing  KSC SLF 

1900Tow to OPF/2 

Sunday, February 27, 2000

PAGEOS

  1966-056A


Pageos, the Passive Geodetic Earth Orbiting Satellite, was jointly funded by NASA, the Department of Defense, and the Department of Commerce; it was built by G.T. Schjeldahl Co. (Northfield, MN) and the canister and adapter were by Goodyear. Launch was at 0012 on 1966 Jun 24. The canister separated from the Agena D 6311 stage at 0124 and deployment began. The canister contained a balloon which inflated automatically. The bright 30m dia balloon was a target for optical observations. The orbit of Pageos was 181.43 min, 4207 x 4271 km x 87.1 deg.

Launch vehicle was a TAT Agena D managed by LeRC; with launch services by KSC ULO and USAF 6569 ATW.


Pageos 
 

DateTimeEventOrbit  

1966 Jun 24  0012:02  Launch by TAT Agena D  V SLC2E 
 0013:07  Castor sep (T+1:05) 
 0014:31  Thor MECO (T+2:29) 
 0014:40  Thor VECO (T+2:38) 
 0014:46  Thor sep (T+2:44) 
 0015:06  Agena burn (T+3:04) 
 0019:03  Agena MECO (T+7:01)  164 x 4228 x 87  
 0124:34  Agena burn 2 (T+1:12:32) 12.3s 778 m/s 
 0124:47  Agena MECO (T+1:12:45)  181.31 4223 x 4266 x 86.95 (VCR) 
 0126:23  Payload separation (Canister from Agena) 
 0127:48  Canister halves separation  
 0128:01  Fully inflated 
1966 Jun 24  0437   181.41 4228 x 4245 x 87.2 
1966 Nov 6    181.20 3432 x 5025 x 86.8 
1967 Jan 4    181.20 3654 x 4803 x 86.6 
1967 Oct 2    180.12 2367 x 6006 x 85.7 
1968 Sep 8    179.64 2096 x 6238 x 84.4 
1969 Apr 12    179.85 2442 x 5910 x 84.0 
1971 Jan 4    180.15 3120 x 5255 x 85.4 
1971 Jun 16    180.30 3445 x 4942 x 85.9 
1975 Jan 30    179.99 3251 x 5112 x 85.5 
1975 Jun 12    180.11 3327 x 5045 x 85.2 
1975 Jun 12   
1975 Aug 30    180.06 3108 x 5260 x 85.3 
1976 Jan   
1976 Feb 20    179.98 2969 x 5393 x 84.8 
1976 Jun 17    178.70 1112 x 7150 x 83.6 
1976 Sep 5    176.61 651 x 7446 x 82.2 
1976 Sep 8    176.32 448 x 7627 x 82.0 
1976 Oct 2    176.51 1097 x 6992 x 82.3 
1976 Nov 7    179.65 2392 x 5943 x 84.4 
1983 Dec 3    178.31 3433 x 4798 x 84.9 
1986 Dec 2    178.47 3960 x 4283 x 85.3 
1989 Apr 4    176.81 1915 x 6198 x 83.6 
1992 Jan 23    177.85 3094 x 5101 x 84.5 
1994 Sep 24    177.68 3613 x 4568 x 84.5 
1997 Jul 6    177.68 3266 x 4915 x 85.6 
1998 Apr 17    177.46 2997 x 5167 x 85.6 

May 13,2026

  https://planet4589.org/space/jsr/back/news.855.txt