1960-014
The S-030A ionospheric studies payload was launched on 1960 Nov 3 at 0523 by a Juno II from LC26B at Cape Canaveral. Jupiter AM-19D was used with JPL Cluster 17. S-30A entered a 417 x 2288 km x 49.95 deg orbit (planned inc was 50.3) and operated until 1960 Dec 27. S-30A was also called the Ionosphere Direct Measurements Satellite. Explorer 8 studied the temporal and spatial distribution of ionospheric properties and confirmed the presence of a helium layer in the upper atmosphere.
S-30A was developed by MSFC with GSFC experiments.
The despin weights were 0.3 kg on a 5.2m wire.
| Explorer 8 | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 Nov 3 | 0523:10 | Launch by Juno II | CC LC26B |
| 0526:09 | MECO | ||
| 0526:16 | Stage 1 sep | ||
| 0526:44 | Fairing sep | ||
| 0531:13 | Stage 2 burn | ||
| 0531:18 | Burnout | ||
| 0531:22 | Stage 3 | ||
| 0531:29 | Burnout | ||
| 0531:32 | Stage 4 | ||
| 0531:38 | Burnout | ||
| 0533:45 | T+10:35 Stage 4 sep | 370 x 2341 x 49.9 | |
| 0534? | Despin stage 1 (yo-yo) | ||
| 0535? | Despin stage 2 (RF impedance probe) | ||
| 1960 Dec 27 | 1220 | Last transmission | |
Payload:
- Electric field meter
- Single grid ion trap
- Langmuir probe
- Multigrid ion trap
- Micrometeor energy detector
- Micrometeor microphone board
- RF impedance probe, 2 x 3.0-m booms
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