- Explorer 3
Infobox_Spacecraft
Name = Explorer 3
Organization =Army Ballistic Missile Agency
Major_Contractors =Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Mission_Type =Earth science
Satellite_Of =Earth
Launch =March 26 ,1958 at 17:31 UTC
Launch_Vehicle =Jupiter-C
Decay =June 27 ,1958
Mission_Duration = 93 days
NSSDC_ID = 1958-003A
Webpage = [http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/database/MasterCatalog?sc=1958-003A NASA NSSDC Master Catalog]
Mass = 14.1 kg
Semimajor_Axis = 7,870.7 km
Eccentricity = .165894
Inclination = 33.38°
Orbital_Period = 115.7 minutes
Apoapsis = 2,799 km
Periapsis = 186 km
Orbits = ~1,160Mission description
Explorer 3 (satellite 1958 gamma) was nearly identical to
Explorer 1 in design and mission.The satellite was launched from
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (nowKennedy Space Center ) inFlorida at 17:31:00 UTC onMarch 26 ,1958 , by theJupiter-C vehicle.The Jupiter-C has its origins in the United States Army's
Project Orbiter in1954 . The project was canceled in1955 , however, when the decision was made to proceed withProject Vanguard .Following the launch of the Soviet
Sputnik 1 onOctober 4 ,1957 , ABMA was directed to proceed with the launching of a satellite using the Jupiter-C, which had already been flight-tested in nose-cone re-entry tests for the Jupiter IRBM (intermediate-range ballistic missile ). Working closely together, ABMA and JPL completed the job of modifying the Jupiter-C and building the Explorer I in 84 days.Spacecraft design
Explorer 3 was launched in conjunction with the
International Geophysical Year (IGY) by the U.S. Army (Ordinance) into an eccentricorbit . The objective of this spacecraft was a continuation of experiments started with Explorer 1. Thepayload consisted of acosmic ray counter (aGeiger-Müller tube ), and a micrometeorite detector (a wire grid array and acoustic detector). The Explorer 3 spacecraft was spin-stabilized and had an on-boardtape recorder to provide a completeradiation history for each orbit. It was discovered soon after launch that the satellite was in a tumbling motion with a period of about 7 seconds. Explorer 3 decayed from orbit on June 27, 1958, after 93 days of operation.Mission results
The discovery of the
Van Allen radiation belt by the Explorer satellites was considered to be one of the outstanding discoveries of the IGY.Explorer 3 was placed in an orbit with a perigee of 186 kilometers and an apogee of 2799 kilometers having a period of 115.7. Its total weight was 14.1 kilograms, of which 8.4 kg was instrumentation. The instrument section at the front end of the satellite and the empty scaled-down fourth-stage rocket casing orbited as a single unit, spinning around its long axis at 750 revolutions per minute.
Instrumentation consisted of a
cosmic ray detection package and a ring of micrometeorite erosion gauges. The Explorer 3 spacecraft was spin-stabilized and had an on-boardtape recorder to provide a completeradiation history for each orbit. Data from these instruments was transmitted to the ground by a 60 milliwatt transmitter operating on 108.03 MHz and a 10 milliwatt transmitter operating on 108.00 MHz.Transmitting antennas consisted of two
fiberglass slot antennas in the body of the satellite itself and four flexible whips forming aturnstile antenna . The rotation of the satellite about its long axis kept the flexible whips extended.The external skin of the instrument section was painted in alternate strips of white and dark green to provide passive temperature control of the satellite. The proportions of the light and dark strips were determined by studies of shadow-sunlight intervals based on firing time,
trajectory , orbit, andinclination .Electrical power was provided by nickel-cadmium chemical batteries that made up approximately 40 percent of the payload weight. These provided power that operated the high power transmitter for 31 days and the low-power transmitter for 105 days.
Because of the limited space available and the requirements for low weight, the Explorer 3 instrumentation was designed and built with simplicity and high reliability in mind. It was completely successful.
Explorer 3 decayed from orbit on June 27, 1958, after 93 days of operation.
A replica of the spacecraft is currently located in the
Smithsonian Institution 'sNational Air and Space Museum , Milestones of Flight Gallery.External links
* [http://history.nasa.gov/sputnik/expinfo.html Data Sheet] , Department of Astronautics,
National Air and Space Museum ,Smithsonian Institution .
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