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Aviation History
1963
1963 - 0752.PDF
FLIGHT International, 16 May 1963 3 April 1963 EXPLORER 17 1963-9 US National Aeronautics and Space Administration CAPE CANAVERAL Major objectives] Orbit Earth satellite to measure density, composition, pressure and temperature of Earth's atmosphere. Major results Orbit achieved. Equipment operating as designed. Flight programme LAUNCH TIME 2.00 a.m. GMT LAUNCH VEHICLE Delta. Stages: (1) Thor DM-21 booster of 170,0001b thrust; (2) Aerojet-General liquid-prepellant rocket with BTL radio guidance, 7,5001b thrust; (3) spin-stabilized X-248 solid- propellant rocket, 3,0001b thrust. LIFT-OFF WEIGHT 114,0001b. DIMENSIONS 90ft high, 8ft base diameter. PROGRAMME Place satellite in Earth orbit. PROGRAMME RESULTS Orbit achieved. ORBITAL DATA perigee 158 miles inclination 57.63° apogee 598.54 miles period 96.4min velocity 16,950 m.p.h. (average) Payload and instrumentation DIMENSIONS 35in diameter. WEIGHT 4051b. SHAPE Spherical. INSTRUMENTATION Two neutral mass spectrometers, four vacuum (pressure) gauges, two electrostatic probes. TRANSMITTERS 136.56 Mc/s (tracking) and 136.32 Mc/s (telemetry). POWER SUPPLY 1501b of silver-zinc batteries. Additional data Satellite is spin-stabilized in orbit at 1.5 cycles per second. Estimated useful lifetime, two to three months. No data storage is carried, and several hundred direct transmissions each of about 5min duration should be obtained. With all instrumentation on, satellite consumes 110 watts power and can operate properly at this load for about 70hr. Explorer 17 is the first US scientific Earth satellite to carry a new pulse code modulation (PCM/PM) telemetry system. This solid-state system provides an output power of 500mW and can supply 40 separate channels of information in digital form. Pre liminary results announced at American Geophysical Union meeting on April 18 include discovery that the Earth is surrounded by a belt of neutral helium atoms. Project management and direction for Explorer 17 (alias the S-6 atmospheric structure satellite) is by Goddard Space Flight Center, with most of the work on the spacecraft carried out by Goddard's Spacecraft Technology Division, and Aeronomy and Meteorology Division. Prime contractor for the Delta vehicle is Douglas Aircraft Company. Information source: NASA
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