Explorer S-66
![]() Explorer S-66 satellite | |
Names | BE-A Beacon Explorer-A NASA S-66 |
---|---|
Mission type | Ionospheric research |
Operator | NASA |
COSPAR ID | EXS-66A |
Mission duration | |
Spacecraft properties | |
Spacecraft | Explorer S-66 |
Bus | Transit-Bus |
Manufacturer | Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory |
Launch mass | 120 kg (260 lb) |
Dimensions | 24.5 × 45.7 cm (9.6 × 18.0 in) |
Power | 4 deployable solar arrays and batteries |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | 19 March 1964, 11:13:41 GMT |
Rocket | Thor-Delta B (Thor 391 / Delta 024) |
Launch site | Cape Canaveral, LC-17A |
Contractor | Douglas Aircraft Company |
End of mission | |
Destroyed | |
Orbital parameters | |
Reference system | Geocentric orbit (planned) |
Regime | Low Earth orbit |
Instruments | |
Langmuir Probe Laser Tracking Radio Frequency Beacon | |
Explorer program |
Explorer S-66 (also called BE-A, acronym of Beacon Explorer-A), was a NASA satellite launched on 19 March 1964 by means of a Thor-Delta B launch vehicle, but it could not reach orbit due to a vehicle launcher failure.[1]
Spacecraft[]
Beacon Explorer-A was a small ionospheric research satellite instrumented with an electrostatic probe, a 20-, 40-, and 41-Hz ionospheric radio beacon, a passive laser tracking reflector, and a navigation experiment. Its primary objective was to obtain worldwide observations of total electron content between the spacecraft and the Earth. The spacecraft was an octagonal right prism 24.5 × 45.7 cm (9.6 × 18.0 in)-diameter terminated on top with a truncated octagonal pyramid on which the laser reflectors were mounted. Appended were four hinged paddles carrying solar cells. Each paddle was 167.6 × 25.4 cm (66.0 × 10.0 in).[1]
Launch[]
During the third stage operation, a malfunction of unidentified origin prevented successful orbit. Satellite and third stage descent were in the south Atlantic Ocean with no useful scientific data obtained.[1]
See also[]
- Explorer program
References[]
- ^ a b c "Display: Beacon Explorer-A EXS-66A". NASA. 28 October 2021. Retrieved 7 November 2021.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- Satellite launch failures
- 1964 in spaceflight