Explorer 8

Explorer 8 was a satellite of the U.S., was successfully launched on November 3, 1960 as part of the Explorer program.

Start

The 41 kg satellite was launched on November 3, 1960 at 5:16 UTC clock with a rocket of the type Jupiter -C from the launch pad LC -26 B of the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

Mission

Explorer 8 was launched by NASA in an elliptical orbit. With an inclination of 33.24 ° Explorer 8 reached an apogee (greatest distance ) of 2288 km and a perigee ( closest distance ) of 417 km. The turn around time was 112 minutes and 42 seconds.

Mission objective was the detailed study of the ionosphere with a focus on the measurement of electron density, electron temperature, ion concentration, the ion mass, the dispersion and distribution of micrometeorites and their mass. With these measurements, the temporal and spatial distribution of electrons and micrometeorites should be analyzed, with the attendant circumstances such as full sunlight were taken into account.

The payload took place in a cylindrical capsule, the outer skin was made of aluminum. The cylinder was 76 cm long and had a diameter of 76 cm also. The entrained for data transmission transmitter had an output of 100 mW and was powered by a mercury -zinc battery.

The weight of the instruments was 8.4 kg. The instrument section at the front end of the satellite and spent the fourth stage of the rocket orbited the Earth as a unit that turned 750 times per minute around its longitudinal axis. In solar cells has been omitted in order not to influence the experiments by the charging of the solar cells.

The measuring instruments included a probe for measuring resistance, an ion trap, a Langmuir probe, a probe for voltage braking, two micrometeorite detectors, an instrument for electrostatics and a temperature probe.

Whereabouts of the satellite

On December 27, 1960, the battery was exhausted. Explorer 8 circled until March 28, 2012, 01:14 GMT clock, the earth. Then the satellite re-entered the Earth's atmosphere and will probably be more completely burn up. The crash coordinates loud 16.8 ° S/73.2 ° W.

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