Tuesday, January 30, 1979
Thursday, January 25, 1979
Thursday, January 18, 1979
Discoverer 29
1961-023
The first KH-3 mission was CORONA 29 (mission 9023), flown on Aug 30 to Sep 1 1961. The mission was advertised as a test of modifications to the Discoverer system. Orbit mass of Agena 1112 was 1136 kg. The Agena was injected with a flight path angle of 7 degrees above the horizontal resulting in a low perigee, eccentric orbit.
The mission was successful and was recovered from the Pacific Ocean, impacting 220 km north of the predicted area. However, when the film was developed it was found to be out of focus due to a design error in the camera. As well as the C''' camera, Discoverer 29 carried supplementary scientific experiments and an X-ray counter for the VELA HOTEL nuclear blast monitoring program. The X-ray experiment was intended to discover if the X-ray background included bursts which would be confused with nuclear explosions. Although such bursts were later discovered, the CORONA tests did not find them, but did map out auroral X-rays (F. Seward, personal communication). A fuse blew after one orbit cutting power supply to the science experiments.
| KH-3 Mission 9023 | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 Aug 30 | 2000 | Launch by Thor Agena B | V |
| 2002 | Thor MECO (T+2:26) | ||
| 2002 | Thor VECO (T+2:35) | ||
| 2002 | Thor sep (T+2:40) | ||
| 2003 | Agena burn (T+3:28) | ||
| 2007 | Agena cutoff (T+7:30) | ||
| 157 x 559 x ? (VCR) | |||
| 2101 | 144 x 556 x 82.02 (OE) | ||
| 1961 Aug 31 | 0700 | 91.51 152 x 542 x 82.1 (RAE) | |
| 1961 Aug 31 | 0741 | 91.45 149 x 542 x 82.1 | |
| 1961 Sep 1 | 0936 | 144 x 543 x 82.02 (OE) | |
| 1961 Sep 1 | 2218? | SRV sep on rev 33 | |
| 2243? | SRV recovered after 2.11d from sea | ||
| 2245 | SRV water impact 26N 158 37W | ||
| 2319 | 144 x 538 x 82.02 (OE) | ||
| 1961 Sep 4 | 0603 | 91.03 138 x 512 x 82.04 | |
| 1961 Sep 5 | 91.0 140 x 345 x 82.1 (SATCAT) | ||
| 1961 Sep 6 | 0332 | 90.73 131 x 490 x 82.1 | |
| 1961 Sep 9 | 2330? | CORONA/Agena reentered | |
Monday, January 1, 1979
Thursday, December 28, 1978
Tuesday, December 26, 1978
Sunday, December 24, 1978
Wednesday, December 20, 1978
Monday, December 18, 1978
Thursday, December 14, 1978
Monday, December 4, 1978
Friday, December 1, 1978
Thursday, November 30, 1978
Sunday, November 26, 1978
Saturday, November 25, 1978
Diapason
1966-013A
The third French satellite was the first of the Diamant series proper (A-1 being just a test capsule). D-1A, named Diapason (`waveband') after launch, carried a Doppler beacon transmitter for geodetic measurements. The 19 kg satellite was reported to be still operating a year after launch. It was built by MATRA for CNES. D-1 was a cylinder 0.50m dia 0.20m high plus 4 solar panels spanning about 1.0m and angled downward, with 4 aerials on the top of the satellite giving a total height of order 1.5m. D-1A was spin-stabilized at 30 rpm after yo-yo despin.
| Diapason | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1966 Feb 17 | 0833:36 | Launch by Diamant A | HMG Brigitte |
| 0835:09 | T+93s Emeraude MECO | ||
| 0835:09 | Emeraude sep | ||
| 0835:09 | T+1:33 Topaze burn 43s | ||
| 0835:55? | T+2:16? Topaze burnout | -5830 x 550 x 34.2 | |
| 0836:05? | T+2:26? Fairing sep | ||
| Coast | |||
| 0838:30? | T+4:54? Topaze sep | ||
| 0840:55? | T+7:19? Rubis burn 45s | ||
| 0841:40? | T+8:04? Rubis burnout | ||
| 0841:40 | Orbit insertion | 118.51 499 x 2738 x 34.0 | |
| Yo-yo despin | |||
| 0846 | Rubis sep | ||
| 1967 Feb | Still operating | ||
| 1972 Jan 23 | End of operations | ||