Friday, March 17, 2006
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Saturday, March 11, 2006
SERT 2
1970-009A
The SERT II spacecraft was 7.9m long and built around the Lockheed Agena D spacecraft, used as the upper stage of the Long Tank Thrust Augmented Thor Agena D launch vehicle. The payload at the front end of Agena 6111 was built by NASA-LeRC and contained two ion thrusters. The span across solar panels was 12.7m.
Launch was on 1970 Feb 4 from Vandenberg; the spacecraft entered a 105.2 min, 997 x 1003 km x 99.1 deg orbit. Thruster 1 was operated first, until 1970 Jul 23 when it shut down and Thruster 2 was started. On 1970 Oct 17 Thruster 2 also shorted and shut down, and NASA declared the mission as a failure in Dec 1970. The spacecraft itself was deactivated in Jan 1972. It was reactivated for a while from May to Sep 1973, and then in the summer of 1974 Thruster 2 started working again when the spacecraft was reoriented to get more power to the solar arrays. In 1980 SERT II was again reactivated and the ion thrusters were fired until the propellant supply was depleted. The satellite was turned off in 1981, but reactivated once again in 1988. In 1989 Jun full control was regained and micrometeor data was received. After deactivation for an eclipse phase from 1989 Dec to 1990 Jun, SERT II was reactivated once more and finally switched off in 1991 Nov.
| SERT 2 | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 Feb 4 | 0259:50 | Launch by Thorad Agena D | |
| T+0:38 SRM out | |||
| T+1:42 SRM sep | |||
| T+3:44 MECO | |||
| T+3:53 VECO | -5496 x 148 x 96.40 | ||
| T+3:59 Thorad sep | |||
| T+4:19 Agena 6111 MES-1, 232s | |||
| T+4:29 Fairing sep | |||
| 0308:02 | T+8:12 Agena MECO | 155 x 1000 x 99.12 | |
| 0355:47 | T+55:57 Agena MES-2, 3s | ||
| 0355:52 | Agena MECO-2 | ||
| 105.2 997 x 1003 x 99.1 | |||
| 0445:42 | Solar array deploy | ||
| 1970 Jul 23 | Thruster 1 shutdown | ||
| 1970 Jul | Thruster 2 test | ||
| 1970 Oct 17 | Thruster 2 short | ||
| 1972 Jan | Deactivated | ||
| 1973 | Reactivated | ||
| 1981 | Turned off | ||
| 1988 | Reactivated | ||
| 1991 Nov | Decommissioned | ||
Friday, March 10, 2006
Saturday, March 4, 2006
Arabsat 2B
1996-063A
Aerospatiale/Cannes Spacebus 3000 series. Launch by Ariane 4 in Nov 1996. Mass was 2661 kg launch, 1610 kg BOL, 1108 kg dry. Size is 1.8 x 2.3 x 2.6 m (bus), 3.46m high with a 26.3 m span. H-10-3 mass in orbit was 2100 kg. Arabsat 2B will be located over 32E.
| Arabsat 2B | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 Nov 13 | 2240 | Launch by Ariane 44L (V92) | CSG ELA2 |
| 2243 | Stage 1 sep T+3:32 | ||
| 2243 | Stage 2 burn T+3:35 | ||
| 2244 | Fairing 01 sep T+4:24 | ||
| 2245 | Stage 2 sep T+5:43 | ||
| 2245 | Stage 3 burn T+5:48 | ||
| 2258 | Stage 3 cutoff T+18:43 | ||
| 2259 | Arabsat sep T+19:55 | ||
| 2302 | SMS sep T+22:17 | ||
| 2305 | Measat sep T+25:14 | ||
| 2305 | H10-3 avoidance burn T+25:41 | ||
| 2312 | H10-3 depletion | ||
| 1996 Nov 13 | 633.32 255 x 35847 x 4.0 | ||
| 1996 Nov 20 | 632.96 252 x 35831 x 4.0 | ||
| 1996 Nov 22? | LAM-1 | ||
| 1996 Nov 25? | LAM-2 | ||
| 1996 Dec 28 | 1433.24 35722 x 35739 x 0.0 GEO 26.5E+0.7E | ||
| 1997 Jan 4 | 1435.57 35758 x 35794 x 0.0 GEO 30.5E+1.0W | ||
| 1997 Aug 19 | 1435.99 35748 x 35820 x 0.0 GEO 30.5E | ||
| 1999 Feb 20 | 1436.00 35765 x 35803 x 0.0 GEO 30.5E | ||
| 2004 May 8 | 1436.09 35779 x 35794 x 0.0 GEO 30.5E | ||
Wednesday, March 1, 2006
Saturday, February 25, 2006
Soyuz 4 (Amur)
1969-004A
7K-OK (11F615) No. 12 was launched on 1969 Jan 14 with pilot Vladimir Shatalov aboard.
After docking, Soyuz-5 bortinzhener (flight engineer) Aleksey Yeliseev and inzhener-ispitatel' (test engineer) Yevgeniy Khrunov transferred from the BO of Soyuz-5 to that of Soyuz-4. The Yastreb spacesuits had life support systems strapped to the legs, to allow the astronauts to fit through the 0.66m diameter BO hatches (later missions had enlarged hatches).
Khrunov went outside first, then returned to the compartment because he had connected Yeliseyev's suit to external supply instead of his own. After he transferred and connected to Soyuz-5, Yeliseyev made the transfer. The Yastreb spacesuits were left in the Soyuz-5 orbital module.
| Soyuz-4 | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1969 Jan 14 | 0730:00 | Launch by 11A511 | KB |
| T+1:55 SAS sep | |||
| T+1:58 Blok BVGD sep | |||
| T+2:45 Fairing | |||
| T+4:48 Blok A sep | |||
| T+4:48 St 3 MES | |||
| 0738:50 | T+8:50 St 3 MECO | ||
| 0739? | St 3 sep | ||
| 88.21 152 x 220 x 51.74 | |||
| 1300 | 88.25 161 x 215 x 51.73 | ||
| 1335 | Orbit trim | ||
| 1969 Jan 15 | 0345 | 88.77 206 x 222 x 51.72 | |
| 0400 | 88.80 206 x 224 x 51.70 | ||
| 1969 Jan 16 | Orbit raise | 201 x 254 x 51.7 | |
| 1969 Jan 16 | 0737 | Rendezvous braking (Igla on) | |
| 1969 Jan 16 | 0820 | Docked with Soyuz-5 | |
| EVA, Soyuz-4 BO depress | |||
| Soyuz-5 BI and II to Soyuz-4 BO | |||
| 1148 | Hatch closed, repress BO | ||
| 1969 Jan 16 | 1255 | Undocked | |
| 1969 Jan 17 | 0608? | Retrofire | |
| 0611? | DO CO | ||
| 0621? | Modules sep | ||
| 0627? | Entry | ||
| 0650:47 | Landed after 2:23:20:47 | ||
Kosmos 1100
1979-042A
The fourth and final LVI flight was a partial failure; one VA, VA No. 102A, was severely damaged on landing when the power system malfunctioned during descent. VA No. 102 may have been recovered. VAs No. 103/1 and 103/2, planned for LVI-5, were reassigned.
| Kosmos-1100 | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 May 22 | 2300 | Launch by Proton | KB |
| 2309 | Stage 3 MECO | ||
| 2309 | Stage 3 sep | ||
| 2309 | MECO+0s Kosmos-1100 and TDU sep from LVI | ||
| 2309 | MECO+2s Kosmos-1101 sep from LVI | ||
| 1979 May 23 | 0314 | 88.66 193 x 222 x 51.6 | |
| 1979 May 23.1 | D 88.60 191x220 | ||
| 1979 May 23.3 | E 88.51 191x210 | ||
| 1979 May 23.4 | C 88.62 182x231 | ||
| 1979 May 23 | |||
| 0014? | Deorbit | ||
| 0024? | BSO sep | ||
| 0032? | Entry | ||
| 0105? | Landed | ||
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Luna 14
1968-027A
E-6LS No. 113 was launched on 1968 Apr 7 and named Luna-14. Luna-14 entered orbit around the Moon on Apr 10 and transmitted until sometime in June. Like Kosmos-159, it was based on Luna-12 and used for communications testing. It tested components for the piloted lunar L-3 project and mapped mascons.
| Luna-14 | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1968 Apr 7 | 1009:32 | Launch by Molniya | KB |
| 1014 | Blok-A sep | ||
| 1014 | Blok-I burn | ||
| 1018 | Blok-I sep | ||
| 1109? | BOZ burn | ||
| 1110? | Blok-L burn | ||
| 1114? | Blok-L sep | ||
| 1968 Apr 8 | 1937 | TCM | |
| 1968 Apr 10 | 1925 | LOI | 163 x 861 x 41.8 |
| 1968 Jun 24 | End of transmissions? | ||
Monday, February 20, 2006
Sunday, February 19, 2006
Kosmos 41
1964-049D
The second Molniya-1, No. 1 (F2) was designated Kosmos-41 after launch into an approximately 12 hour elliptical orbit. The communication antennae failed to deploy but the orbit engine and a secondary radiation experiment operated for several months.
Launch vehicle was R10336 according to Varlomeyev, G10319 according to Glazami. Chertok reports that the parabolic antennae failed to deploy but the satellite operated for 9 months for tests of spacecraft control.
In May 2004, Space Command swapped the names for 00869 (originally tagged as Kosmos-41) and 00898 (originally tagged as the Blok-L stage).
| Kosmos-41 | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1964 Aug 22 | 0721 | Launch by 8K78 | KB |
| 0723 | T+2:22 GO sep | ||
| 0726 | Blok-A sep | ||
| 0726 | Blok-I burn | ||
| Interstage sep | |||
| 0730 | Blok-I sep | ||
| 0830 | T+1:09:24 BOZ burn | ||
| 0830 | T+1:09:43 Blok-L burn | ||
| 0834? | Blok-L sep | 426 x 39771 x 64.9 | |
| 1964 Sep 8 | 714.58 427 x 39769 x 64.9 | ||
| 1964 Dec 19 | radiation counter stops operating | ||
| 1965 May 26 | end of ops | ||
| 1981 Jun 30 | 714.56 3333 x 36861 x 71.4 | ||
| 1992 Jan 1 | 714.81 1722 x 38486 x 70.30 | ||
| 1992 Oct 19 | (R/B) | 717.93 1446 x 38915 x 69.63 | |
| 714.54 1456 x 38737 x 69.57 319.3 | |||
| 1994 Jan 20 | 714.54 997 x 39197 x 68.4 | ||
| 1998 May 12 | 714.51 2231 x 37961 x 68.6 | ||
| 2000 Aug 1 | 714.66 1464 x 38736 x 68.57 35 | ||
| (R/B) | 717.44 1495 x 38842 x 68.68 41 | ||
| 2003 Aug 1 | 714.58 426 x 39770 x 64.92 262 | ||
| (R/B) | 719.07 506 x 39911 x 64.97 270.3 | ||
Saturday, February 18, 2006
Soyuz TM-30 (Yenisey)
2000-018A
The EO-28 crew, Sergey V. Zalyotin and Aleksandr Kaleri, flew the first 200-series Soyuz to Mir. 11F732 No 204 was originally assigned to ISS.
| Soyuz TM-30 | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 Apr 4 | 0501:29 | Launch by Soyuz-U | KB LC1 |
| 0503 | boosters sep | ||
| 0504 | Fairing sep | ||
| 0506 | Blok A sep | ||
| 0510 | Blok I MECO | ||
| 0510:18 | Blok I sep | 192 x 239 x 51.7 (NK) | |
| 0850:58 | TCM-1 57s | ||
| 0935:21 | TCM-2 29s | 257 x 259 x 51.6 | |
| 2000 Apr 5 | 0614:58 | TCM-3 1s | |
| 89.67 257 x 259 x 51. | |||
| 2000 Apr 6 | 0619:50 | At 167m | |
| 0627 | To manual control at 40m | ||
| 0631:22 | Dock with Mir -X | 329 x 333 x 51.6 | |
| 0805:14 | Crew entry | ||
| 2000 Apr 28 | 91.12 327 x 331 x 51.7 | ||
| 2000 May 22 | 91.98 362 x 380 x 51.7 | ||
| 2000 Jun 15 | 1817 | Hatch closed | |
| 2124:50 | Undocked | ||
| 2352:33 | Deorbit | ||
| 2356 | Deorbit MECO | ||
| 2000 Jun 16 | 0017? | BO, SA sep | |
| 0020? | Reentered | ||
| 0043:45 | Landed | ||
Kosmos 699
1974-103A
Kosmos 699 disintegrated on 1975 Apr 17,after a successful mission that inaugurated the US-P series.
| Kosmos-699 | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 Dec 24 | 1100:00 | Launch by Tsiklon 2 from Baikonur | |
| 1102 | Stage 1 sep | ||
| 1104 | Stage 2 sep | ||
| 1148? | AKM burn | ||
| 1974 Dec 24 | 89.8 114x418x65.0 | ||
| 1974 Dec 24 | 93.29 427 x 443 x 65.0 | ||
| 1974 Dec 26 | 93.32 430 x 443 x 65.0 | ||
| 1975 Jan 11 | 93.28 428 x 441 x 65.0 | ||
| 1975 Mar 7 | Inactive? | ||
| 1975 Mar 16 | 93.28 427 x 444 x 65.0 | ||
| 1975 Apr 17 | end of ops | ||
| 1975 Apr 17 | 93.25 424 x 443 x 65.0 | ||
| 1975 Apr 17 | 2148 | Exploded, 437 km over 3N 83W into 50 pieces | |
| 1975 Apr 28 | 93.22 421 x 442 x 65.0 | ||
| 1977 Jul 26 | 91.38 331 x 353 x 65.0 | ||
| 1977 Oct 12 | 89.43 237 x 255 x 65.0 | ||
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
MTI
2000-014A
MTI is the Multispectral Thermal Imager, P97-3. MTI will demonstrate multispectral and thermal imaging technology for both military and civilian applications, mainly to study applications for treaty monitoring. MTI carries a piggyback experiment, the HXRS sensor to give advance warning of hard X-ray solar events. Mass is 597 kg. Size is 2.5m h 1.22m dia and 4.1m span. Launch by Taurus in late 1999. Sponsor is the DoE Office of Nonproliferation and National Security. MTI was shipped to Sandia SNL/Albequerque in Jul 1999. Sandia integrated the satellite using a bus designed in collaboration with Ball.
Control from Albequerque.
Launch by AF Taurus 1110 with 63 inch fairing.
| MTI | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 Mar 12 | 0929 | Launch by Taurus | V 576E |
| T+1:00 St 1 sep, St 2 start | |||
| T+2:25 St 2 sep | |||
| T+2:27 St 3 burn | |||
| T+2:32 Fairing sep | |||
| T+3:49 St 3 burnout | |||
| T+8:51 St 3 sep | |||
| T+9:02 St 4 burn | |||
| 0939 | T+10:17 St 4 burnout | ||
| 0941 | T+12:12 MTI sep | ||
| 0955? | St 3 impact POR | ||
| 2000 Jun 14 | Begin operational mission | ||
| 2003 Mar | HXRS failed | ||
| 2004 Jul | S/C still operational | ||
Payload:
- 0.36m offaxis telescope with visible imager, 15 bands
- Thermal IR imager