1958-008A
The first ABMA Pioneer probe, Pioneer III, was launched on 1958 Dec 6 by Juno II AM-11 from pad 5 at Cape Canaveral. The Jupiter cut off early, and the upper stage guidance was poor. The probe did not attain the required velocity, reaching 10.736 km/s instead of 11.136 km/s, and the injection angle was 3.5 deg too low. It reached an apogee of 102200 km. It reentered over Africa at 1952 on 1958 Dec 7. NASA formally was given responsibility for the program but in practice it was still Army run.
| Pioneer 3 | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 Dec 6 | 0544:52 | Launch | |
| 0547:48 | Jupiter shutdown T+2:56 | ||
| 0547:56 | Jupiter sep T+3:04 | ||
| 0548:09 | Fairing sep T+3:17 | ||
| 0548:47 | Stage 2 burn T+3:55 | ||
| 0548:53 | Stage 2 cutoff | ||
| 0548:56 | Stage 3 burn T+4:04 | ||
| 0549:02 | Stage 3 cutoff | ||
| 0549:05 | Stage 4 burn T+4:13 | ||
| 0549:11 | Stage 4 cutoff | ||
| 0549:20 | Stage 4 sep T+4:28 223 km 10.736km/s? | -70? x 102209 x 28.5 | |
| 0826 | 35000 km, 3.50 km/s | ||
| 1530 | Despin device failed to operate | ||
| 1958 Dec 7 | 0030? | Apogee 102200 km | |
| 0034 | 102300 km | ||
| 1151 | AOS at Puerto Rico | ||
| 1930 | LOS from Puerto Rico, 3200 km over Africa | ||
| 1958 Dec 7 | 1951 | Reentry at 10.3km/s? | |
| 1953 | burnup at 88 km over 16.4N 18.6E | ||
