The S-55C Meteoroid Satellite will be launched by Scout vehicle No. 133 on or after November 5, 1964 from Wallops Island, Virginia, as the fourth in a series under the flight project. The S-55C is a modified version of the S-55B (designated Explorer XVI) which successfully recorded 64 penetrations of sample spacecraft materials in over seven months of useful life. The first two orbital attempts in the S-55 Project were unsuccessful due to developmental problems of Scout launch vehicles. The S-55C Satellite is designed to collect additional direct experimental data necessary for the efficient design of spacecraft for long-term operation in the near-Earth meteoroid environment. The primary experiment exposes 14.8 square feet of 2 mil (0.002 ) stainless steel surface and 7.4 square feet of 1 mil surface for penetration. A piggy-back experiment, to measure gust load and wind shear bending moments, is also flown on Scout vehicle No. 133. Having no interface with the S-55C payload, the purpose is to obtain data that will form a basis for assessing the accuracy with which analytical methods can be used to estimate launch vehicle flight loads. Daily launch windows during November 1964, are open from about 4:00 AM to 9:00 AM Eastern Standard Time. However, a launch constraint will be exercised during the first ten (10) days by the piggy-back experiment in an attempt to find winds aloft in excess of 100 feet per second at altitudes from 25,000 to 40,000 feet. Orbital parameters of the S-55C Meteoroid Satellite are: perigee - 250 nautical miles; apogee - 557.5 nautical miles; inclination - 52O; period - 99.6 minutes.
Launch of the S-55C Meteoroid Satellite
1964
15 pages
Report
Keine Angabe
Englisch