A-105

A-105 was the third flight of an operational Saturn I and was the last in the series of Saturn I flights.

Overview

The payload consisted of an Apollo boilerplate spacecraft (BP-9A) which served as a shroud for the third Pegasus meteoroid technology satellite, Pegasus C. The Apollo boilerplate (BP-9A) reentered on November 22, 1975. The Saturn launch vehicle (SA-10) was similar to those of missions A-103 and A-104. As on the previous mission, the boilerplate service module was equipped with a test installation of a reaction control engine package. Pegasus C weighed 3138.6 pounds (1423.6 kg) and had the same dimensions as its predecessors.

Objectives

The primary flight objectives were:

* The collection and evaluation of meteoroid data in near-earth orbit
* The continued demonstration of the launch vehicle interactive guidance mode and evaluation of system accuracy.

Launch

Mission A-105 was launched from Cape Kennedy Launch Complex 37B at 08:00 EST (13:00 GMT) on July 30, 1965. A planned thirty minute hold ensured that launch time coincided with the opening of the Pegasus launch window. The launch was normal and the payload was inserted into orbit approximately 10.7 minutes after lift-off. The total mass placed in orbit, including the spacecraft, Pegasus C, adapter, instrument unit, and S-IV stage, was 34,438 pounds (15,621 kg).

The spacecraft was separated 812 seconds after lift-off. The separation and ejection system operated as planned. The two meteoroid detection panel wings of the satellite were deployed from their folded position 40 seconds after command initiation at 872 seconds.

Performance

The predicted useful lifetime of the satellite (720 days) was exceeded, and the beacons and telemetry transmitters were commanded off on August 29, 1968. Pegasus C entered Earth's atmosphere on August 4, 1969. All primary and secondary objectives were attained.