Friday, September 29, 2000
Compton Gamma Ray Observatory
1991-027B
Known simply as GRO (Gamma Ray Observatory) before launch, this spacecraft was renamed the Arthur Holly Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, CGRO, in honor of the American physicist (1892-1962) after whom the Compton Effect of gamma-ray/electron interactions is also named. The spacecraft was built by TRW and operated by GSFC.
CGRO was deployed by Atlantis' RMS arm at 2235 on 1991 Apr 7 into a 93.63 min, 446 x 458 km x 28.5 deg orbit. The most dramatic early results from CGRO were the discovery by EGRET of the gamma-ray loud quasars, and the results from BATSE indicating that gamma ray burst sources were distributed uniformly across the sky.
CGRO had an internal propulsion system to raise its orbit. The GRO propulsion system, built by TRW, had a mass of 281 kg dry and 1920 kg of monopropellant hydrazine, with four thruster modules each with two MRE-5 thrusters. The OAT (Orbit Adjust Thrusters) had some initial pressurization problems just after launch, so it was decided to use a smaller set of thrusters for the orbit adjust. A test firing was carried out on 1993 May 4, and the B-side thrusters were fired twice on 1993 Jun 15, but the second time one thruster did not fire and the burn was aborted. It was decided to go back to using the OATs. Test burns were made on Aug 3, Aug 17 and Sep 7. The first true orbit raising burn was made on Oct 4 around 0500; 6 more burns were made between Oct 6 and 1828 on Oct 14. By Oct 12 the orbit had been raised back to 341 x 446 km x 28.5 deg.
Tape recorder failures limited the amount of data CGRO could send back, so in 1994 the TDRS 1 satellite was moved over a new ground station in Tidbinbilla, Australia to improve data coverage.
| GRO | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 Apr 8 | 93.63 446 x 458 x 28.5 | ||
| 1992 Dec 1 | 92.06 372 x 378 x 28.5 | ||
| 1993 Feb 26 | 91.77 357 x 364 x 28.5 | ||
| 1993 May 1 | 91.47 344 x 348 x 28.5 | ||
| 1993 May 13 | 91.55 348 x 352 x 28.5 | ||
| 1993 May 25 | 91.52 347 x 351 x 28.5 | ||
| 1993 Jun 10 | 91.46 344 x 347 x 28.5 | ||
| 1993 Jun 21 | 91.56 347 x 354 x 28.5 | ||
| 1993 Aug 3 | 91.45 341 x 350 x 28.5 | ||
| 1993 Aug 12 | 91.43 340 x 348 x 28.5 | ||
| 1993 Aug 18 | 91.42 338 x 349 x 28.5 | ||
| 1993 Sep 1 | 91.38 336 x 347 x 28.5 | ||
| 1993 Sep 8 | 91.37 336 x 346 x 28.5 | ||
| 1993 Oct 2 | 91.29 333 x 342 x 28.5 | ||
| 1993 Oct 9 | 91.66 340 x 371 x 28.5 | ||
| 1993 Oct 14 | 345 x 409 x 28.4 | ||
| 1993 Oct 21 | 92.44 341 x 446 x 28.5 | ||
| 1997 Mar 24 | ACT engineering test burn | ||
| 1997 Mar 26 | OAT engineering test burn | ||
| 1997 Apr 1 | 1800 | OAT 90s reboost | |
| 1997 Apr 2 | 1900 | OAT 90s reboost | |
| 1997 Apr 3 | 1830 | OAT 90s reboost | |
| 1997 Apr 5 | 1900 | OAT 90s reboost | |
| 1997 Apr 6 | 1700 | OAT 90s reboost | |
| 2000 May 10 | 94.31 482 x 487 x 28.5 | ||
| 2000 May 31 | 0151 | Descent burn 1 23:06 | 92.94 362 x 474 x 28.5 |
| 2000 Jun 1 | 0236 | Burn 2, 26min | 91.62 237 x 471 x 28.5 |
| 2000 Jun 4 | 0356 | Burn 3, 21:39 | |
| 0417 | Burn 3 cutoff | 146 x | |
| 0522:21 | Burn 4, 30 min, 36.8 m/s | ||
| 0552 | Burn 4 cutoff | 27 x | |
| 0609 | Tumble maneuver | ||
| 0610 | loss of contact | ||
| 0613 | Reentry at 50 km | ||
| 0618 | Impact in Pacific SE of Hawaii | ||
Payload:
- OAT Orbit Adjust Thrusters; 4 Rocket Research Corp 445N thrusters, 8 TRW MRE-5 22N thrusters.
- BATSE The Burst and Transient Source Experiment, a NASA-MSFC experiment to detect, locate, and measure the light curves and spectra of gamma ray bursts; 20 keV - 1 MeV
- EGRET The Extreme Gamma ray Event Telescope, to detect gamma ray sources in the 100 MeV range. (20 MeV-30 GeV)
- COMPTEL Imaging Compton Telescope 1-30 MeV
Geo-IK 1
1994-078A
The last Musson satellite was given the open name Geo-IK and was not assigned a Kosmos number. Geo-IK carried a secondary payload, the Elekon transponder. This may have been to research LEO comsat technology.
| Geo-IK | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 Nov 29 | 0254:00 | Launch by Tsiklon-3 | PL LC32 |
| T+2:00 St 1 sep | |||
| T+3:33 GO sep | |||
| T+4:38 St 2 sep, alt 126 km | -2400? x 170? x 73.6 | ||
| T+5:19 S5M burn 1, alt 143 km | -2400? x 170? x 73.6 | ||
| 0300 | T+6:48 S5M MECO-1, alt 173 km | 90 x 1502 x 73.6 | |
| 0343 | T+49:37 BOZ burn | ||
| 0345 | T+51:15 S5M MES2 | 90 x 1502 x 73.6 | |
| 0345 | T+51:33 S5M MECO2 | ||
| 0346 | T+52:03 S5M sep | ||
| 1994 Nov 30 | 116.06 1479 x 1527 x 73.6 | ||
| 1995 Jul | End of main ops? | ||
| 1999 Feb 5 | End of operations | ||
| 1999 Feb 9 | 116.06 1480 x 1426 x 73.6 | ||
Tuesday, September 26, 2000
Marisat 1
1976-017A
Marisat F-1, or Marisat 101, was launched in Feb 1976 by a Delta from Cape Canaveral. It was the first of the L-band mobile communications satellites, and was used for ship-to-shore communications from specially equipped vessels. Marisat F-1 was stationed at 15W to become the Marisat Atlantic satellite. In 1982 the satellite was leased by the International Maritime Satellite Organization (INMARSAT) and became the INMARSAT Atlantic Spare satellite. The next year, it was replaced as Atlantic Spare by the MCS payload on Intelsat 506, but remained in reserve as an INMARSAT satellite.
| Marisat F-1 | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 Feb 19 | 2232 | Launch by Delta 2914 | CC LC17 |
| 2235 | Thor sep | ||
| 2236:01? | Delta SES-1 | ||
| 2241:00? | SECO-1 | 188 x 350? x 28.6 | |
| 2254:30? | T+22:30 SES-2 9s | ||
| 2254:39? | SECO-2 | 173 x 613 x 28.63 | |
| 2255 | Stage 2 sep | ||
| 2256 | T+24:22 TES | ||
| 2257 | T+25:06 TECO | 187 x 36950 x 24.50 | |
| 2258 | T+26:19 Stage 3 sep | ||
| 2303 | SES-3 test | ||
| 2303 | SECO-3 | ||
| 1976 Feb 20 | 0400? | Apo 1 96E | |
| 1500? | Apo 2 70W | ||
| 1976 Feb 21 | 0200? | Apo 3 126E | |
| 1300? | Apo 4 40W | ||
| 1976 Feb 21 | 1332 | AKM | |
| 1976 Feb | GEO 15W | ||
| 1977 Jan 25 | 1436.10 35743 x 35829 x 1.8 GEO 14.5W | ||
| 1977 May 12 | 1436.10 35774 x 35798 x 1.4 GEO 15.3W | ||
| 1977 Dec 17 | 1436.07 35764 x 35807 x 1.0 GEO 14.7W | ||
| 1979 Apr 13 | 1436.14 35772 x 35802 x 0.2 GEO 14.9W | ||
| 1979 Dec 27 | 1436.07 35764 x 35807 x 0.7 GEO 14.8W | ||
| 1981 Jul 28 | 1436.10 35774 x 35799 x 1.9 GEO 14.8W | ||
| 1982 Feb | Control transferred to INMARSAT | ||
| 1982 May 1 | INMARSAT Atlantic Spare | ||
| 1982 Oct | GEO 15W | ||
| 1983 Aug | Replaced by I-506 | ||
| 1983 Oct 16 | 1436.17 35781 x 35794 x 3.8 GEO 15.3W | ||
| 1983 Nov 28 | 1436.07 35775 x 35797 x 3.9 GEO 14.8W | ||
| 1987 Feb 23 | 1436.10 35776 x 35796 x 6.8 GEO 14.7W | ||
| 1989 Aug 1 | 1436.15 35778 x 35797 x 7.9 GEO 15.0W | ||
| 1990 Jan 19 | 1436.14 35772 x 35802 x 8.4 GEO 15.1W | ||
| 1990 Feb? | Moved to 106W | ||
| 1990 Mar 2 | 1436.08 35775 x 35797 x 8.1 GEO 106.24W | ||
| 1991 Mar 20 | 1436.09 35775 x 35797 x 9.0 GEO 106.1W | ||
| 1992 Oct 3 | 1436.09 35781 x 35791 x 10.2 GEO 106.0W | ||
| 1994 Feb 28 | 1436.11 35766 x 35807 x 11.1 GEO 106.0W | ||
| 1995 Aug 8 | 1436.08 35758 x 35813 x 12.0 GEO 106.0W | ||
| 1996 Feb 8 | 1436.08 35773 x 35799 x 12.3 GEO 105.9W | ||
| 1996 Jun 1 | 1436.06 35760 x 35811 x 12.4 GEO 105.4W | ||
| 1997 Feb 4 | 1436.09 35771 x 35801 x 12.7 GEO 105.9W | ||
| 1997 Apr 2 | 1436.14 35775 x 35799 x 12.8 GEO 106.1W | ||
Monday, September 25, 2000
Gorizont 22
1990-102A
The 22nd Gorizont in orbit was launched for the Ministry of Communications, Information Technology and Space of the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic. It was still in service with the GPKS company in 1999.
| Gorizont No. 33(22) | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 Nov 23 | 1322:00 | Launch by Proton-K | KB |
| 1331 | Stage 3 sep | ||
| 1439? | DM burn 1 | ||
| 1955? | DM burn 2 | ||
| 1959? | Blok-DM2 No. 45L sep | ||
| 1474.90 36484 x 36601 x 1.4 GEO 93.8E | |||
| 1990 Dec 12 | 1436.09 35755 x 35817 x 1.4 GEO 39.7E | ||
| 1991 Feb 10 | 1436.10 35772 x 35801 x 1.3 GEO 39.7E | ||
| 1992 Jan 6 | 1436.19 35773 x 35803 x 0.5 GEO 39.7E | ||
| 1993 Mar 30 | 1436.17 35784 x 35791 x 0.6 GEO 39.6E | ||
| 1994 Aug 25 | 1435.97 35772 x 35796 x 1.8 GEO 40.0E | ||
| 1995 May 27 | 1436.11 35780 x 35792 x 2.3 GEO 39.6E | ||
| 1996 Feb 7 | mv out | GEO 39E dr E | |
| 1996 Mar 5 | 1429.19 35546 x 35756 x 2.9 GEO 85.0E+1.7E | ||
| 1996 Apr 22 | mv in | 1436.06 35779 x 35792 x 3.0 GEO 140.0E | |
| 1999 Mar 16 | 1436.01 35780 x 35788 x 5.1 GEO 139.5E | ||
Kosmos 313
1969-104A
Kosmos-313 was the sixth Gektor flight and was the first Gektor launch from Plesetsk.
| Kosmos-313 | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1969 Dec 3 | 1320:02 | Launch by 11A57 | PL |
| 1324 | Blok-I burn | ||
| 1329? | Blok-I sep | ||
| 1969 Dec 4 | 0230 | 89.07 198 x 259 x 65.40 | |
| 1969 Dec 5 | 1533 | 89.01 198 x 252 x 65.4 | |
| 1969 Dec 6 | 1940? | Blok-I reentered | |
| 1969 Dec 11 | 0755 | 88.86 192 x 243 x 65.4 | |
| 1969 Dec 15 | 0637? | Retrofire | |
| 0659? | Landed after 11.73d | ||