- Relay 1
Relay 1 was principally a communications
satellite . It was launched atop aDelta rocket onDecember 13 1962 fromLC-17 atCape Canaveral Air Force Station . Included in its payload wereradiation experiments designed to map the earth'sradiation belt s. The spin-stabilizedspacecraft had an initial spin rate of 167.3 rpm and an initial spin axis orientation with a declination of -68.3 deg and a right ascension of -56 deg. Shortly after launch, two basic problems evolved. One was the satellite's response to spurious commands, and the other was the leakage of a high-power regulator. This leakage caused the first 2 weeks ofsatellite operation to be useless. After this period, satellite operation returned to normal. Thesatellite carried one transmitter for tracking and one for telemetry. The telemetry system was PCM at 1152 bit/s. Each 128 words per telemetry frame (of 1 s duration) used 113 words for the particle experiment. The leakage problem caused thespacecraft to revert to a low voltage state early in 1965. Sporadic transmission occurred untilFebruary 10 ,1965 , after which no usable scientific data were obtained. See also:1962 in spaceflight .External links
* [http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/masterCatalog.do?sc=1962-068A NASA Relay 1]
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