Samos 2

Samos 2
Mission type Reconnaissance
Operator United States Air Force
Harvard designation 1961 Alpha 1
Mission duration 1 month
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft type Samos-E1
Bus Agena-A
Start of mission
Launch date January 31, 1961, 20:31:19 (1961-01-31UTC20:31:19Z) UTC
Rocket Atlas LV-3A Agena-A 70D
Launch site Point Arguello LC-1-1
End of mission
Decay date October 21, 1973
Orbital parameters
Reference system Geocentric
Regime Sun-synchronous Low Earth
Perigee 474 kilometers (295 mi)
Apogee 553 kilometers (344 mi)
Inclination 97.4 degrees
Period 94.9 minutes

Samos 2 was an American reconnaissance satellite launched in 1961 as part of the Samos program. It was an early electro-optical reconnaissance spacecraft, meaning that it transmitted images to receiving stations on Earth rather than returning them in a film capsule. Samos 2 was a Samos-E1 spacecraft, based on an Agena-A.[1]

The launch of Samos 2 occurred at 20:31:19 UTC on January 31, 1961. An Atlas LV-3A Agena-A rocket was used, flying from Launch Complex 1-1 at the Point Arguello Naval Air Station.[2] Ten minutes and fourteen seconds later, the Agena's engine cut off, having successfully achieved a low Earth orbit.[3] It was assigned the Harvard designation 1961 Alpha 1.

Samos 2 operated in a Sun-synchronous low Earth orbit, with an apogee of 553 kilometres (344 mi), a perigee of 474 kilometres (295 mi), an inclination of 97.4 degrees, and a period of 94.9 minutes.[4] The satellite had a mass of 1,915 kilograms (4,222 lb),[3] and measured 6.86 metres (22.5 ft) in length, with a diameter of 1.52 metres (5 ft 0 in).[5] It operated successfully, however the images returned were poor.[6] Designed to operate for around ten days,[1] it ceased operations around a month after launch,[3] and decayed from orbit on October 21, 1973.[4]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Krebs, Gunter. "Samos E-1". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved June 17, 2010.
  2. McDowell, Jonathan. "Launch Log". Jonathan's Space Page. Retrieved June 17, 2010.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 McDowell, Jonathan. "SAMOS 2". The History of Spaceflight. Jonathan's Space Page. Retrieved June 17, 2010.
  4. 4.0 4.1 McDowell, Jonathan. "Satellite Catalog". Jonathan's Space Page. Retrieved June 17, 2010.
  5. "Pioneer/Samos-A". FAS. Retrieved June 17, 2010.
  6. Wade, Mark. "Samos". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Retrieved June 17, 2010.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, March 19, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.