Friday, March 21, 2008
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
SCD-1
1993-009B
Brazil's first home-built satellite was the Satelite de Coleta de Dados (Data Collection Satellite), SCD-1, which was used to forward environmental data from remote stations in the Amazon basin to a ground station at Cuiaba. The satellite is an octagonal cylinder, 1.0 m in diameter and 0.72 m high with a mass of 115 kg. SCD-1 was originally built for Brazil's home built VLS launch vehicle, but delays in that program caused a switch to the Orbital Sciences Corp. Pegasus.
The Pegasus launch vehicle carried the nickname `Santos Dumont'. The NB-52 initially left Edwards on Jan 5 but the Pegasus rudder was unlocked and fluttered; the B-52 returned to Edwards. The NB-52 left Edwards again on Feb 7 and reached KSC via Sheppard AFB. Two days later, the NB-52 carrier aircraft took off from RW15/33 at Kennedy Space Center at 1317 on 1993 Feb 9 and flew out 130 km east of the Florida coast, to the Mayport, FL Warning Area (MFWA). One hour after takeoff, with the B-52 at an altitude of 13 km, the Pegasus was dropped and 5 seconds later the first stage ignited. Although the launch was in Florida, tracking and control was exercized from the Wallops Range rather than the Eastern Range. Nominal drop point was 29N 79W
The SCD-1 satellite was designated 1993-09B, the A designation going to an Orbital Sciences Orbcomm satellite which flew as a secondary payload. Mass was 115 kg SCD, 9 kg adapter, 14 kg OXP-1
| SCD-1 | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 Feb 9 | 1317 | NB-52 takeoff from KSC RW15/33 | |
| 1430 | Launch of Pegasus over Mayport, FL Warning Area | 13 km alt | |
| 1430:34 | Drop at 29.04N 78.99W | ||
| 1430:39 | Stage 1 burn at 13.0 km, Vrel 0.26 km/s | ||
| 1432:11 | Stage 1 burnout 82.5s | ||
| Dogleg to 25 deg | |||
| 1432:24? | T+1:50 Stage 1 sep, Stage 2 TIG | ||
| 1432 | Fairing sep | ||
| 1433 | T+3:04 Stage 2 cutoff 4.88km/s, 200 km? | ||
| 1439 | T+9:15? Stage 2 sep | ||
| 1439:52 | T+9:18 Stage 3 TIG, dogleg 3.8km/s | ||
| 1441:12 | T+10:38 Stage 3 cutoff | ||
| 1441:14? | OXP-1 sep | ||
| 1442:20 | SCD-1 sep | 99.97 725 x 790 x 25.0 | |
| 2000 Feb | Still operating | ||
| 2007 Sep | Still operating | ||
Payload:
- Data collection system for environmental data relay
- Brazilian solar cell experiment