Discoverer 24

Discoverer 24

Operator	US Air Force/NRO
Major contractors	Lockheed
Bus	KH-5 Argon Agena-B
Mission type	Optical reconnaissance
Launch date	8 June 1961 21:16 UTC
Carrier rocket	Thor DM-21 Agena-B 302
Launch site	Vandenberg LC-75-3-4
Mission duration	Failed to orbit
Mass	1,150 kilograms (2,500 lb)
Orbital elements
Regime	Low Earth (planned)

The launch of Discoverer 24

Discoverer 24, also known as Corona 9018A, was an American area survey optical reconnaissance satellite which was launched in 1961 but failed to achieve orbit. It was a KH-5 Argon satellite, based around an Agena-B.^[1] It was the third KH-5 to be launched.

The launch of Discoverer 24 occurred at 21:16 UTC on 8 June 1961. A Thor DM-21 Agena-B rocket was used, flying from Launch Complex 75-3-4 at the Vandenberg Air Force Base.^[2] The rocket suffered an electrical failure during ascent which affected its guidance system, and as a result it failed to deliver Discoverer 24 into orbit.^[3]

Discoverer 24 was to have operated in a low Earth orbit. It had a mass of 1,150 kilograms (2,500 lb),^[4] and was equipped with a frame camera with a focal length of 76 millimetres (3.0 in), which had a maximum resolution of 140 metres (460 ft).^[5] Images would have been recorded onto 127-millimetre (5.0 in) film, and returned in a Satellite Recovery Vehicle, before the satellite ceased operations. The Satellite Recovery Vehicle carried aboard Discoverer 24 was SRV-541.^[4]

References

1. ^ Krebs, Gunter. "KH-5 Argon (Agena-B based)". Gunter's Space Page. http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/kh-5_ab.htm. Retrieved 22 June 2010. 
2. ^ McDowell, Jonathan. "Launch Log". Jonathan's Space Page. http://planet4589.org/space/log/launchlog.txt. Retrieved 22 June 2010. 
3. ^ Lindborg, Christina (9 September 2000). "KH-5 Argon". Federation of American Scientists. http://www.fas.org/spp/military/program/imint/kh-5.htm. Retrieved 22 June 2010. 
4. ^ ^{a b} Wade, Mark. "KH-5". Encyclopedia Astronautica. http://www.astronautix.com/craft/kh5.htm. Retrieved 22 June 2010. 
5. ^ "Corona". Mission and Spacecraft Library. NASA. http://msl.jpl.nasa.gov/programs/corona.html. Retrieved 22 June 2010.