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DMSP Block 5D

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DMSP Credit: USAF

AKA: Defense Meteorological Satellite Program. Status: Operational 1976. First Launch: 1976-09-11. Last Launch: 1980-07-15. Number: 5 . Gross mass: 400 kg (880 lb).

Photo Gallery

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DMSP-5D1 F1 Credit: Manufacturer Image

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AMS 2 Credit: Manufacturer Image

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• AMS 1 - . Payload: DMSP 5D S-1 / OPS 5721. Mass: 450 kg (990 lb). Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Program: DMSP. Class: Earth. Type: Weather satellite. Spacecraft: DMSP Block 5D. USAF Sat Cat: 9415 . COSPAR: 1976-091A. Apogee: 833 km (517 mi). Perigee: 804 km (499 mi). Inclination: 98.50 deg. Period: 101.30 min. A Thor booster carrying the first DMSP Block 5D satellite was launched from SLC-10, Western Test Range. The launch was successful but the satellite lost stability and began to tumble after attaining orbit. Defense Meteorological Satellite Program..

• The first DMSP Block 5D satellite spin recovery. - . Spacecraft: DMSP Block 5D. The first DMSP Block 5D satellite, which had gone into a spin following its launch in September 1976, was successfully de-spun. This action climaxed a three phase recovery effort..

• First DMSP Block 5D satellite patched. - . Spacecraft: DMSP Block 5D. A software patch was uploaded into the computer of the first DMSP Block 5D satellite. The patch allowed the satellite to function without the services of its roll gyro, which was about to go bad..

• First DMSP Block 5D satellite software patch prevented the spacecraft from being lost due to deterioration of its gyros. - . Spacecraft: DMSP Block 5D.

  Software modifications were installed in the computer of the first DMSP Block 5D satellite, allowing its attitude control system to function without the pitch and yaw gyros. Coupled with an earlier modification which had allowed the satellite to function without the roll gyro, this action prevented the spacecraft from being lost due to deterioration of its gyros.

• AMS 2 - . Payload: DMSP 5D S-2/Star 37S S/N 15003 / OPS 5644. Mass: 450 kg (990 lb). Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Program: DMSP. Class: Earth. Type: Weather satellite. Spacecraft: DMSP Block 5D. USAF Sat Cat: 10033 . COSPAR: 1977-044A. Apogee: 849 km (527 mi). Perigee: 788 km (489 mi). Inclination: 99.00 deg. Period: 101.30 min.

  An LV-2F booster launched the second DMSP Block 5D satellite into orbit from Vandenberg AFB, California. The launch was marred by a series of anomalies which put the satellite in a retrograde orbit and a spinning condition. Defense Meteorological Satellite Program.

• Second DMSP Block 5D satellite under control. - . Spacecraft: DMSP Block 5D. An Air Force/contractor team completed recovery of the second DMSP Block 5D satellite, which had gone into a spin following its launch earlier in the month..

• First microwave temperature sounder delivered for DMSP Block 5D satellites. - . Spacecraft: DMSP Block 5D. The Aerojet ElectroSystems Company delivered the first flight model of the SSM/T, a microwave temperature sounder that would be flown on DMSP Block 5D satellites..

• Microwave imager to be flown on DMSP Block 5D satellites. - . Spacecraft: DMSP Block 5D.

  The Air Force came up with $95,000 to initiate the development of the SSM/I, a microwave imager to be flown on DMSP Block 5D satellites. Development of the imager had previously been jeopardized when the Director of Defense Research Engineering had withdrawn funding from the project.

• The primary sensor failed on DMSP satellite F-33. - . Spacecraft: DMSP Block 5D.

• Lifetime Extension for the DMSP Block 5D satellite. - . Spacecraft: DMSP Block 5D. HQ USAF directed AFSC to initiate the Lifetime Extension Program for the DMSP Block 5D satellite..

• AMS 3 - . Payload: DMSP 5D S-3 / OPS 6182. Mass: 513 kg (1,130 lb). Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Program: DMSP. Class: Earth. Type: Weather satellite. Spacecraft: DMSP Block 5D. USAF Sat Cat: 10820 . COSPAR: 1978-042A. Apogee: 799 km (496 mi). Perigee: 786 km (488 mi). Inclination: 98.70 deg. Period: 100.70 min. A Thor LV-2F was launched from Vandenberg AFB carrying the third DMSP Block 5D-1 satellite. The launch was successful, and the spacecraft and its sensors functioned normally once in orbit. Defense Meteorological Satellite Program..

• Stored Telemetry Processing System for the DMSP. - . Spacecraft: DMSP Block 5D. A contract to define a Stored Telemetry Processing System for the DMSP program was awarded to Systems and Applied Sciences, a minority small business..

• Satellite Data Handling System for the DMSP program. - . Spacecraft: DMSP Block 5D.

  SAMSO awarded the Harris Corporation a $10.3 million contract to develop a Satellite Data Handling System for the DMSP program. The system would be installed at the Air Force Global Weather Central at Offutt AFB, Nebraska, and would allow forecasters to analyze and distribute weather data obtained from DMSP satellites.

• Contracts for conceptual studies on a DMSP Block 6 satellite. - . Spacecraft: DMSP Block 5D.

  SAMSO awarded $200,000 contracts to five companies - RCA, GE, Rockwell International, Lockheed, and Hughes - to do conceptual studies on a DMSP Block 6 satellite. The studies were finished in September, but by that time there were indications that the White House might disapprove the development of Block Six and order development of a shuttle-compatible Block 5D instead.

• A DMSP shipboard terminal was installed on the aircraft carrier USS Midway. - . Spacecraft: DMSP Block 5D.

• AMS 4 - . Payload: DMSP 5D S-5 / OPS 5390. Mass: 513 kg (1,130 lb). Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Program: DMSP. Class: Earth. Type: Weather satellite. Spacecraft: DMSP Block 5D. USAF Sat Cat: 11389 . COSPAR: 1979-050A. Apogee: 826 km (513 mi). Perigee: 805 km (500 mi). Inclination: 98.60 deg. Period: 101.20 min. A Thor LV-2F booster successfully launched the fourth DMSP Block 5D-1 satellite into low earth orbit. The launch site was Space Launch Complex 10, Vandenberg AFB, California. Defense Meteorological Satellite Program..

• Installation of Mark IIA terminals for the DMSP Program was completed. - . Spacecraft: DMSP Block 5D. The Mark IIA terminals had been created by reconfiguring and improving the Mark I and II transportable terminals..

• Microwave imager for the DMSP Block 5D-2 satellite. - . Spacecraft: DMSP Block 5D.

  SAMSO awarded the Hughes Aircraft Company a $21.3 million contract to develop a microwave imager for the DMSP Block 5D-2 satellite. The imager would measure the intensity of precipitation over land and water, the temperature of the sea surface, the speed of the wind over the ocean, the thickness and extent of sea ice, and the moisture content of the soil.

• DMSP ground site data sharing - . Spacecraft: DMSP Block 5D.

  The Data Multiplexing System was declared operational. The system had been installed at various DMSP ground sites, and it allowed payload data and telemetry to be transmitted from one site to another. It also opened up a communication link between the Kaena Point Tracking Station, in Hawaii, and the Air Force Global Weather Central in Nebraska, thereby allowing the Global Weather Central to receive stored weather data from Hawaii as well as from Washington and Maine.

• DMSP Satellite F-l non-operational - . Spacecraft: DMSP Block 5D. DMSP Satellite F-l was declared non-operational after the second of its two computers went off-line due to a failure in the power subsystem..

• Contract for two DMSP spacecraft - . Spacecraft: DMSP Block 5D.

  SAMSO signed a $24.1 million letter contract for two DMSP spacecraft (F-8 and F-9) and long lead parts for a third (F-10). The contract incorporated the toughest negative incentives ever inserted into a spacecraft contract up to that time. It was structured in that manner in obedience to new procurement guidelines issued by the AFSC commander, General Slay.

• AMS 5 - . Payload: DMSP 5D S-4. Mass: 513 kg (1,130 lb). Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Program: DMSP. Class: Earth. Type: Weather satellite. Spacecraft: DMSP Block 5D. Decay Date: 1980-07-14 .

  Defense Meteorological Satellite Program. Although there was a press release immediately after the launch (by the spacecraft SPO) that said the 2nd stage motor exploded, in reality the problem was found to be due to poor design of the electrical connectors between the 2nd and third stages and a separation problem that ripped the wiring out of the spacecraft.