Kosmos 8

Kosmos 8

Major contractors	Yuzhnoye
Bus	DS-K-8
Mission type	Technology
Launch date	18 August 1962 15:00 GMT
Carrier rocket	Kosmos-2I 63S1
Launch site	Kapustin Yar Mayak-2
Orbital decay	17 August 1963
COSPAR ID	1962 Alpha Xi 1
Mass	337 kilograms (740 lb)
Orbital elements
Regime	Low Earth
Inclination	49°
Apoapsis	598 kilometres (372 mi)
Periapsis	244 kilometres (152 mi)
Orbital period	92.9 minutes

Kosmos 8 (Russian: Космос 8 meaning Cosmos 8), also known as DS-K-8 #1 and occasionally in the West as Sputnik 18 was a technology demonstration satellite which was launched by the Soviet Union in 1962. It was the eighth satellite to be designated under the Kosmos system, and the third spacecraft launched as part of the DS programme to successfully reach orbit, after Kosmos 1 and Kosmos 6. Its primary mission was to demonstrate the technologies for future Soviet military satellites. It also carried a micrometeoroid research payload which discovered meteoroid flux.^[1]

It was launched aboard the eighth flight of the Kosmos-2I 63S1 rocket.^[2] The launch was conducted from pad 2 of the Mayak Launch Complex at Kapustin Yar, and occurred at 15:00 GMT on 18 August 1962.^[3]

Kosmos 8 was placed into a low Earth orbit with a perigee of 244 kilometres (152 mi), an apogee of 598 kilometres (372 mi), 49 degrees of inclination, and an orbital period of 92.9 minutes.^[1] It decayed on 17 August 1963, one day short of a year after its launch.^[4] Kosmos 8 was the only DS-K-8 satellite to be launched.^[1][5]

See also

• 1962 in spaceflight

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Wade, Mark. "DS-K-8". Encyclopedia Astronautica. http://www.astronautix.com/craft/dsk8.htm. Retrieved 2009-05-23. 
2. ^ McDowell, Jonathan. "Launch Log". Jonathan's Space Page. http://planet4589.org/space/log/launchlog.txt. Retrieved 2009-05-23. 
3. ^ Wade, Mark. "Kosmos 2". Encyclopedia Astronautica. http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/kosmos2.htm. Retrieved 2009-05-23. 
4. ^ McDowell, Jonathan. "Satellite Catalog". Jonathan's Space Page. http://www.planet4589.org/space/log/satcat.txt. Retrieved 2009-05-23. 
5. ^ Wade, Mark. "DS". Encyclopedia Astronautica. http://www.astronautix.com/project/ds.htm. Retrieved 2009-05-23.