1973-028A
KH-8 Mission 4038 was launched on 1973 May 16 by Titan 23B Agena D from Vandenberg on a 28 day mission. At the last minute a new target was added to the mission: imaging the Skylab space station, which had been damaged during launch. This required orienting the GAMBIT at an attitude for which it had not been designed, but the operation was successful and the recovered film provided key information for the Skylab repair crew. The first SRV was recovered 9 days earlier than scheduled to give NASA timely information.
| KH-8 38 | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 May 16 | 1640 | Launch by Titan 3B Agena D | V SLC4W |
| 1642 | Titan stage 1 sep | ||
| 1645 | Titan stage 2 sep | ||
| 1645 | Agena burn | ||
| 1650? | Agena MECO | ||
| 89.4 136 x 352 x 110.5 | |||
| 1973 May 20? | Imaged Skylab | ||
| 1973 May 21 | 89.75 135 x 389 x 100.5 | ||
| 2050? | SRV-1 ejected | ||
| 2101 | SRV-1 mid-air recovery | ||
| 1973 May 22 | Orbit raise | ||
| 1973 May 29 | 89.71 132 x 387 x 110.5 | ||
| 1973 May 31 | Orbit raise | 89.88 132 x 404 x 110.5 | |
| 1973 Jun 4 | Orbit raise | 89.78 134 x 393 x110.5 | |
| 1973 Jun 6 | 136 x 371 x 110.5 | ||
| 1973 Jun 6 | Orbit raise | 89.81 141 x 389 x 110.5 | |
| 1973 Jun 12 | 89.74 140 x 382 x 110.5 | ||
| 1973 Jun 13 | 89.75 139 x 384 x 110.5 | ||
| 1973 Jun 13 | 2236? | SRV-2 recovered | |
| 1973 Jun 13 | Reentered after 28d | ||
