Friday, April 26, 2002

Geosat

 1985-021A


APL's Geosat obtained altimetry data for Trident missile targeting between Mar 1985 and Oct 1986, completing mapping of the marine geoid begun by Seasat. It achieved a spatial resolution of 15 km. It then altered its orbit to begin the Seasat Exact Repeat Mission, which involved having 17-day repeating groundtracks, suitable for oceanography.


Geosat 1 
 

DateTimeEventOrbit  

1985 Mar 13  0200  Launch by Atlas E (41E)  
  T+2:01? BECO 
  T+2:04? Booster sep 
  T+2:24? Fairing 
  T+5:24? SECO 
  T+5:49? Atlas sep  -2270? x 800 ? x 108?  
 0211?? T+11 min? Star 27 burn 
 0211?? Star 27 sep  100.64 760 x 817 x 108.05 
 0215? Restraining cable release 
  Despin cable release 
  Deploy solar panels 
  Deploy boom 1m 
1985 Mar 14   Deply boom fully 
1985 Mar   Geodetic mission (GM) begins  
1985 May 5    100.63 759 x 817 x 108.07 
1986 Sep 22    100.63 762 x 814 x 108.04 
1986 Oct 1   End of GM   
  2 test burns  
1986 Oct 3   Calibration burn 
1986 Oct 7   Calibration burn 
1986 Oct 10-11   30 burns to alter e and arg. peri. 
1986 Oct 14    100.63 762 x 814 x 108.04 
1986 Oct 14-23   157 burns to alter e and arg. peri. 
1986 Oct 23    100.62 772 x 802 x 108.02 
1986 Oct 23   Start 48 burns to alter semimajor axis 
1986 Oct 27    100.59 783 x 789 x 108.03 
1986 Nov 7   End of 48 burns 
1986 Nov 7   Secondary mission begins: Seasat ERM (Exact Repeat Mission) 
1986 Nov 8    100.59 785 x 788 x 108.03 
1986 Dec 1?  Alter period by 22ms 
1987   Adjust orbit by 20ms every 30d 
1988 Nov 23    100.59 784 x 788 x 108.04 
1989 Oct 3   Tape recorders failed 
1990 Jan 5   end of tx 
1990 Oct 21    100.56 783 x 786 x 108.05 
1996 Mar 4    100.44 775 x 781 x 108.05 
2002 Mar 20    100.26 768 x 773 x 108.05

Friday, April 19, 2002

USA-136

 1997-068A


This payload was 4.6m in diameter and 12.2m long. The separated Centaur stage is 4.3m diameter and 8.8m long. Launch vehicle was K-20 (A-17)/TC-16. An EHF Milstar polar adjunct package was announced as a secondary payload on an elliptical orbit Titan 4 payload in 1997. The package is derived from the UHF Followon payloads. According to USAF, the NRL's MPTB electronics test bed was launched into a high radiation orbit in 'fall 1997'; I believe this was probably on the K-20 flight.

Publications of space physics data confirm that this satellite is the third in the series of HEO payloads.


TRUMPET/USA 136 
 

DateTimeEventOrbit  

1997 Nov 8 0205 Launch by Titan 4A-17/TC-16  CC LC41 
 0206  T+1:55 Stage 1 burn 
 0207 T+2:03 SRMU sep 
 0208  T+3:56 PLF sep 
 0210  T+5:06 Stage 1 MECO 
 0210  T+5:06 Stage 2 burn 
 0213  T+8:50 Stage 2 MECO 
 0213  T+8:56 Stage 2 sep   
 0214  T+9:17 Centaur MES1 
 0218 T+13:43 Centaur MECO1  88.19 185 x 185 x 55.0 (ILAM) 
 0304  T+59:21 Centaur MES2  
 0308  T+1:03:30 Centaur MECO2  484.21 204 x 27890 x 55.0 (ILAM) 
 0400  T+1:55:17 Centaur MES3 
 0401  T+1:56:28 Centaur MECO3  713.84 1100 x 39059 x 63.55 (ILAM) 
 0418  T+2:12:58 Centaur TC-16 sep 
  TC-16 orbit 708.9 1075 x 38839 x 64.3 (UN) 
  (A)  712.8 1098 x 39012 x 63.6 (UN) 

Pioneer Venus Orbiter

 1978-051A


The Pioneer Venus Orbiter was launched at 1313 on 1978 May 20 by Atlas Centaur from Cape Canaveral. The Atlas stage separated at 1317:16 and the Centaur ignited at T+4:26. Centaur MECO at 1322 (T+9:36) left PVO in a 170 km parking orbit. At 1331 the Centaur reignited for a 2 min 17 s solar orbit insertion burn. When it separated at 1336, PVO was on a Type 2 Venus transfer trajectory with an aphelion of 1.08 AU. Control was transferred to the PMOCC at Ames on May 22. Correction burns TCM1 and TCM2 were made on Jun 1 and Nov 2.

The onboard solid insertion motor fired at 1558:05 on 1978 Dec 4 and placed PVO in a 23h 11m, 378 x 66900 km x 105.6 deg orbit around Venus. At 0527 Dec 6 it lowered periapsis to 233 km, and on Dec 9 the periapsis was lowered further to 180 km. By Dec 20 the orbit was synchronized to the Earth day, 1436 min 150 x 66900 km x 105 deg, when the last of 7 trim burns was made.

In 1979 Jan-Feb the periapsis was varied from 142 km to 175 km. On Feb 14 the OIR instrument failed. In August the PVO was turned off temporarily while the Deep Space Network supported the Pioneer Saturn encounter. The nominal mission was over on 1979 Aug 4, and was followed by EM1, the Pioneer Venus Extended Mission. By 1979 Sep periapsis had risen to 253 km and was lowered to 142 km. Extended Mission 2 ran from 1980 Apr 3 to Dec 2. In 1980 Jul the RCS gas ran low; the periapsis was allowed to rise. The period remains constant as the inclination, now at 17 degrees, would drift to 0 degrees by 1986, and back up to 17 deg in 1992. In 1981 the periapsis was too high for the ORM and it was turned off.

The Approach Phase began in 1991 Jan when periapsis began to drop from 1000 to 200 km. This was followed by the Entry Phase, starting in 1992 Jun. A periapsis raising burn (the 6th) was carried out on 1992 Oct 2, raising closest approach from 132.9 km to 141.7 km. On Oct 3 the propellant ran dry and the satellite had to be spun up on Oct 5. A final orbit raise of 1 km was made at 0525 on Oct 8 (apoapsis). After the next periapsis passage, 128 km at 1922 on Oct 8, no further transmissions were heard from PVO and the end of mission was declared.


PVO 
 

DateTimeEventOrbit  

1978 May 20  1313:00  Launch by Atlas Centaur 
  T+2:19 BECO 57 km  
  T+2:22 Booster sep 61 km 
  T+3:04 Insulation panels sep 98 km 
 1316:44  T+3:44 Fairing sep 
  T+4:14 SECO
 1317:16  T+4:16 Atlas sep 
 1317:26  T+4:25 Centaur MES-1 
 1322:36  T+9:35 Centaur MECO-1  166 x 170 x  
 1332  Centaur MES-2 2:17 
 1334  Centaur MECO-2 
 1337:46  T+24:46 Centaur sep (MECO2+2:15)  0.72 x 1.08 AU 
 1337:49 T+24:49 Spinup to 6.5 rpm 
 1650:30  MAG deploy 
 2056?  Pass EL1:4 
1978 May 21  1700?  HGA despin 
1978 May 24  0544  Exit Earth sphere (L1)  0.72 x 1.08 AU 
1978 Jun 1 1001  TCM-1 axial 0.5m/s  
 1916  TCM-1 radial-1 1.6m/s 
 2146  Spin rate trim 
1978 Jun 2  0006  TCM1 radial-2 1.6m/s  
1978 Nov 2 TCM-2 
1978 Dec 1  1900?  Enter Venus sphere/L1 
1978 Dec 4  1558:17  VOI burn 1108.7 m/s 
  VOI burnout  1391.43 378.7 x 66900 x 105.0210 
  HGA spinup 30 rpm 
  SC bus despin to 15 rpm 
  Inversion, spin axis to NEP at apo 1 
  HGA despin 
  ORAD antenna released 
  ONMS cap jettison (VOI+36h?) 
  OETP radial sensor deploy 
1978 Dec 5   OTM-1  248 x 66900? x 105.6 
1978 Dec 6   OTM-2  233 x 66900? x 105.6 
1978 Dec 9   OTM-3  180 x 66900? x 105.6 
1978 Dec 20   OTM-7? 1436.0 150 x 66900 x 105 
  Spacecraft despin to 5 rpm  
1979 Jan-Feb   Periapsis (km) 142-175 
1979 Mar-Apr    150-170 
1979 May-Jul    150-190 
1979 Aug 4   End primary mission 
1979 Aug 4   Start Extended Mission 1 
1979 Sep    253 
1979 Sep   Orbit lower  170 
1979 Oct    142 
1979 Oct    160 
1979 Nov    145-160 
1979 Dec    150-185 
1980 Jan    150-185 
1980 Feb-Mar    150-175 
1980 Apr 3   Start Extended Mission 2 
1980 Apr-Jun    150-180 
1980 Jul   end of orbit maintenance 
1980 Dec 2  End EM2 
1981    400-800  
1982    800-1500 
1983    1500-1800 
1984    1800-2000 
1985    2000-2100 
1986 Jun 30    2270 
1987    2000-2100 
1988    1600-2000 
1989    1200-1600 
1990    1000-1200 
1991 Jan   Approach Phase 
1991 Mar 3    1000  
1991 Dec    200 ?  
1992 Jun   Entry Phase 
1992 Oct    132.9  
1992 Oct 2   PRM-6  141.7 
1992 Oct 3   Fuel low 
1992 Oct 5   spinup 
1992 Oct 6    130.8 (orbit 5054) 
1992 Oct 7    128.9 (orbit 5055) 
1992 Oct 8  0525 PRM-7? 1km 128  
1992 Oct 8  1922 Perapsis  128 x  
  End of transmissions 
1992 Oct   Entry 

Progress M-42

 1999-038A


Launch mass 7150 kg. At undocking, mass was 5800 kg. The Reflektor antenna was 6.4 x 5.2 x 1.1m deployed; the transport package was 0.62d 1.06l.


Progress M-42 
 

DateTimeEventOrbit  

1999 Jul 16  1637:33s  Launch by Soyuz-U  LC1 
 1642  Blok A burn 
 1646:13? Blok I MECO 
 1646  Blok I sep 
 2021:51  DU-1 burn 35s 14m/s 
 2054:12  DU-2 burn 19s, 14m/s 
1999 Jul 17  1727:59  DU-3 burn 1m/s 3s 
1999 Jul 18  1746:58  Distance to Kvant 150m 
1999 Jul 18  1753:21  Docked Kvant +X 
 1835  Hatch open 
1999 Jul 20   Reflektor unloaded 
1999 Aug 26   Closed TKG hatch 
1999 Sep 140311:52  Undocked90.73 298 x 321 x 51.6 
 0610:40  Deorbit 78m/s 8:30 
 0619:10  SKD cutoff 
 0653Reentered over Pacific

Thursday, April 18, 2002

Saturn SA-7

  1964-057A


The Apollo-Saturn 102 (AS-102) flight was launched on Saturn 107 at 1622:43 on 1964 Sep 18 from pad 37B. The Saturn S-4-7 stage entered orbit at 1633:15, with parameters 178 x 203 km x 31.7 deg. It reentered on Sep 22. Attached to the S-IV stage were S-IU-7 and Apollo BP-15.


SA-7 
 

DateTimeEventOrbit  

1964 Sep 18  1622:43  Launch by Saturn 107  CK LC37B 
 1625:04  IECO 
 1625:10  OECO 
 1625:11  Sep, 76? km 23 deg 3.05km/s  -5940 x 159 x 32 
 1625:13  S-4 MES 
 1625:23  Ullage sep 
 1625:23  LES sep 85? km 20 deg 3.08 km/s  -5910 x 152 x 32 
 1627:36  SI apogee 159 km 
 1631:40  SI impact 
 1633:04  T+10:21 MECO  180 x 234 x 31,75 (MPR) 
 1702  End of SA-7 tx 
 2100  End of beacon 
1964 Sep 18  2300?  End of BP-15 tx 
1964 Sep 22  1150?  reentry 21.7S 56.4E 
 1200? impact 26.4S 69.0E 

Wednesday, April 17, 2002

Kosmos 677

  1974-072A


Kosmos-677 was satellite 1 of Strela-1M octuplet no. 10.


Kosmos-677  
 

DateTimeEventOrbit  

1974 Sep 19  1457  Launch by 11K65M  PL 
  Stage 2 burn 1  
 1504 T+7m Stage 2 MECO-1 
  Stage 2 burn 2 
 1555? T+58m? Stage 2 sep 
   114.53 1399 x 1469 x 74.03  

Sunday, April 14, 2002

Molniya 190

 1997-054A


Another 11F658T satellite, no. 80046398, was launched in Sep 1997. It began orbital decay in 2010.


Molniya-1T F95 
 

DateTimeEventOrbit  

1997 Sep 24  2131:44  Launch by 8K78M  PL LC43/4 
 2136 T+4:46 Blok A sep 
 2136  T+4:56 KhO sep 
 2140 T+8:46 Blok-I MECO 
 2140  T+8:50 Blok-I sep   
 2225  T+53:16 BOZ burn 
 2225 T+53:56 BOZ sep 
  ML burn 
 2228  T+56:46 ML MECO 
 2228  T+56:54 ML sep   
1997 Oct 28    717.77 492 x 39962 x 62.9 
1999 Apr 1    717.75 1181 x 39171 x 63.1

Friday, April 12, 2002

Kosmos 2340

 1997-015A


Oko #77 was launched in 1997 with an AOP of 318 deg.


Kosmos-2340 
 

DateTimeEventOrbit  

1997 Apr 9  0858:45  Launch by Molniya-M  PL LC16 
 0903  Blok A sep 
 0907  Blok I MECO 
 0907  Blok I sep 
 0948? Blok L burn 
 0955  Blok L sep 
2001 Mar   end of ops
2001 Mar 30    717.97 2730 x 37633 x 64.0 

The New York Times 1999 almanac

 https://welib.org/md5/a544b7ac458c286aa9da5713fad932e0

Wednesday, April 10, 2002

Explorer 50

  1973-078A


The final IMP satellite was IMP J (Interplanetary Monitoring Platform J), which became Interplanetary Monitoring Platform 8 (Explorer 50) after launch. Launch was at 0226:02 on 1973 Oct 26, by Delta 1604 from Cape Kennedy. The Star 37E separated at 0238 and left the IMP in a 197 x 228809 km x 28.8 deg. The TE-M-521 (Star 17A) motor fired at the first apogee, at 0600 on Oct 29, but did not provide as much thrust as planned, and IMP 8 entered a 141185 x 288857 km x 28.7 deg orbit. It was still operating in 1998, with special measures taken to process its VHF telemetry after the STDN tracking network was closed down.


IMP 8 
 

DateTimeEventOrbit  

1973 Oct 26  0226:03  Launch by Delta 1604  CK LC17B 
  T+0:38 SRM 1-6 off 
  T+1:15 SRM sep 
  T+4:29 MECO 
  T+4:33 Stage 1 sep 
 0230 T+4:37 SES-1 5:27 
  T+4:55 Fairing 
 0236:04 T+10:01 SECO-1 
 0237:20 T+11:17 St 2 sep  154 x 521? x 28.7 (78B orbit) 
 0237:33 T+11:30 TES 43s 
 0238:15 T+12:12 TECO 
 0239:57  T+13:55 Star 37 sep  197 x 228809 x 28.8 
 0258? SES-2 experimental 
  SECO-2 (78C orbit)  360 x 2326 x 28.9 
 1956  Pass EL1:4 
1973 Oct 29  0600  AKM burn  
1973 Oct 29  0800  141185 x 288857 x 28.67 
1975 Jul 25   
17287.48 215092 x 215092 x 19.7 
1978 Jul 20    17375.79 177677 x 254023 x 40.63 
1984 Apr 14    17550.98 190940 x 243718 x 43.3 
1998 May 21    17576.75 190893 x 244218 x 31.8 
1998 Oct 25   Still operating 

Monday, April 8, 2002

USA-112

 1995-034A


Another 26m shroud Titan Centaur was launched on Jul 10. This one went to a high inclination orbit, and is assumed to be in the same series as USA 103. The satellite is referred to as HEO 95-034 in space physics publications.


USA 112 
 

DateTimeEventOrbit  

1995 Jul 10  1238  Launch from LC41 
 1239  Stage 1 Tig (T+1:55, burn 3:08) 
 1241  Fairing sep (T+3:56) 
 1243  Stage 2 Tig (burn 5 min, suborbital) 
 1247  Stage 2 MECO 
 1247? Centaur MES1 (T+9:23, burn 4:30) 
 1253? Centaur MECO1, parking orbit  245 x 255 x 56.1 (UN) 
1995 Jul 10  1345? Centaur burn 2  250 x 32300? x 56.0?  
1995 Jul 10  1412? Centaur burn 3  1000? x 39400? x 63.4  
1995 Jul 10  1420? Centaur sep  

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