 | Vanguard 1
Credit - NASM
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Class: Technology. Nation: USA. Agency: U.S. Navy. An engineering test satellite. Based on orbital position data derived from its transmissions, the shape of the earth was refined. Typical orbit: 654 km x 3868 km at 34 degrees inclination. Mass: 1.00 kg (2.20 lb).
Vanguard 1 Chronology - 1955 August 1 - Vanguard selected to launch first US satellite. - Program: Vanguard. Launch Vehicle: Vanguard.
Ad Hoc Committee on Special Capabilities rejects Army/Von Brauns's Project Orbiter (Redstone) and USAF Atlas proposals; selects Navy/Vanguard for first US satellite.
- 1955 October 7 - Vanguard contract awarded. - Program: Vanguard. Launch Vehicle: Vanguard.
Prime contract for Project Vanguard awarded the Martin Co.
- 1957 May 1 - Vanguard suborbital test. - Program: Vanguard. Launch Vehicle: Vanguard.
Vanguard Test Vehicle (TV-1), a modified Martin Viking first-stage and Vanguard solid-propellant third-stage Grand Central Rocket as second-stage, launched with instrumented nose cone to an altitude of 121 miles and met all test objectives.
- 1957 October 1 - Vanguard tracking system operational. - Program: Vanguard. Launch Vehicle: Vanguard.
Project Vanguard world-wide tracking system (minitrack) became operational.
- 1957 October 9 - Vanguard supported by Eisenhower. - Program: Vanguard. Launch Vehicle: Vanguard.
President Eisenhower in a White House press release congratulated the Soviet scientists on SPUTNIK I. He gave a brief history of the development of the U.S.-IGY satellite program and pointed to the separation of Project Vanguard from work on ballistic missiles.
- 1957 December 6 - Vanguard 1A - Program: Vanguard. Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: LC18A. Launch Vehicle: Vanguard. FAILURE: Vehicle lost thrust and exploded after 2 seconds. Mass: 1.00 kg (2.20 lb).
First US orbital attempt. IGY Vanguard (TV-3), the first with three live stages, failed to launch a test satellite.
- 1958 February 5 - Vanguard 1B - Program: Vanguard. Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: LC18A. Launch Vehicle: Vanguard. FAILURE: Control system malfunction - control lost after 57 sec. Mass: 1.00 kg (2.20 lb). Apogee: 6.00 km (3.70 mi).
Trial firing of IGY Vanguard (TV-3Bu) satellite.
- 1958 March 17 - Vanguard 1 - Program: Vanguard. Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: LC18A. Launch Vehicle: Vanguard. Mass: 2.00 kg (4.40 lb). Perigee: 654 km (406 mi). Apogee: 3,868 km (2,403 mi). Inclination: 34.20 deg. Period: 133.20 min.
Transmitted pear-shaped earth data. Life expectancy of perhaps a 1,000 years. The satellite had a mass of 1.6 kg and a diameter of 175 cm.
- 1958 April 29 - Vanguard 2A - Program: Vanguard. Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: LC18A. Launch Vehicle: Vanguard. FAILURE: Third Stage failed to ignite. Mass: 1.00 kg (2.20 lb). Apogee: 550 km (340 mi).
- 1960 March 17 - Vanguard second anniversary. - Program: Vanguard. Launch Vehicle: Vanguard.
VANGUARD I still in orbit and transmitting on its second anniversary after traveling 131,318,211 miles. NASA reported that VANGUARD I orbit was being altered by solar pressure.
- 1961 March 17 - Vanguard third anniversary. - Program: Vanguard. Launch Vehicle: Vanguard.
Vanguard I completed third year in orbit and was still transmitting. Vanguard I provided much useful data on orbits, including the slight pear-shape of the Earth and the effect of solar pressure. Vanguard also provided the second stage for the Able, Delta, and Able-Star, as well as the third stage of Scout, pioneering solid-propellant stages used in Polaris and Minuteman.
Bibliography:- McDowell, Jonathan, Jonathan's Space Home Page (launch records), Harvard University, 1997-present. Web Address when accessed: http://www.planet4589.org/jsr.html.
- JPL Mission and Spacecraft Library, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 1997. Web Address when accessed: http://msl.jpl.nasa.gov/home.html.
- Emme, Eugene M, Aeronautics and Astronautics: An American Chronology of Science and Technology in the Exploration of Space 1915-1960, NASA, 1961. Web Address when accessed: http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/timeline.html.
- Emme, Eugene M, Aeronautical and Astronautical Events of 1961 Report of NASA to the Committee on Science and Astronautics US House of Representatives 87th Cong 2d Sess, NASA, 1962. Web Address when accessed: http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/timeline.html.
- Ordway, Frank, and Sharpe, Mitchell, The Rocket Team, Collector's Guide Publishing, Ontario, Canada, 2000.
- Bramscher, Robert G, Spaceflight, "A Survey of Launch Vehicle Failures", 1980, Volume 22, page 351.
- NASA Report, The Vanguard Satellite Launching Vehicle: An Engineering Summary, Web Address when accessed: http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19740072500_1974072500.pdf.
- NASA Report, Vanguard I Satellite Structure and Separation Mechanism, Web Address when accessed: http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19980228199_1998388604.pdf.
- NASA Report, Project Vanguard Magnetic-Field Instrumentation and Measurements, Web Address when accessed: http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19980228065_1998389865.pdf.
- NASA Report, Vanguard Satellite Separation Mechanisms, Web Address when accessed: http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19980228196_1998388611.pdf.
- NASA Report, Balancing Vanguard Satellites, Web Address when accessed: http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19980227279_1998388240.pdf.
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