1960-F07
The first Echo satellite to head for orbit was the A-10 payload. Launched on 1960 May 13 by the first Thor Delta launch vehicle from Cape Canaveral, it failed to reach orbit because the Delta second stage lost guidance after shutdown.
A-10's balloon had a mass of 60 kg. It was inflated with 5 kg of benzoid and 10 kg of anthraquinone, and coated with 2 kg of Al, and then had a mass of 75 kg and a diameter of 30m. The spacecraft was packed into a 11 kg, 0.67m dia magnesium sphere. Inflation should have occurred 2 min after orbit insertion. Planned inclination was 47 deg.
Stage 3 did not fire after the coast phase; the Stage 2/Stage 3/payload impacted the Atlantic near Ascension I. This confirms that the stage 2 inclination was more like 33 degrees, with a yaw burn planned for stage 3.
The third stage carried a 7 kg radio transmitter for tracking purposes, giving it a total empty mass of 30 kg.
| Echo A-10 | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 May 13 | 0916:05 | Launch by Delta | CC LC17A |
| 0918:42 | T+2:37 MECO | ||
| 0918 | Thor sep | ||
| 0918 | Delta stage 2 burn 1:51 | ||
| 0920:40? | SECO | ||
| 0927:35 | T+11:30 Guidance failed | ||
| 0935:49 | T+19:44 Stage 3 failed to sep | ||
| 0952? | Impact | ||
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