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Thor SLV-2 Agena B

Stage · USA

Original archive entry. The text, images and links below are kept as they were written.

Two stage vehicle consisting of 1 x Thor DSV-2A + 1 x Agena B

LEO Payload: 400 kg (880 lb) to a 1,000 km orbit at 100.00 degrees. Flyaway Unit Cost 1985$: 19.560 million.

More at: Thor SLV-2 Agena B.

Related

Country
USA
Spacecraft
Alouette, Echo 2, Nimbus, DME
Projects
Explorer
Agency
Douglas

Chronology

3 events

1964 January 25

13:59 GMT - . Launch Site: Vandenberg. Launch Complex: Vandenberg SLC2E. LV Family: Thor. Launch Vehicle: Thor SLV-2 Agena B.
  • Echo 2 - . Payload: Echo C A-12. Mass: 256 kg (564 lb). Nation: USA. Agency: NASA Langley. Class: Technology. Type: Communications technology satellite. Spacecraft Bus: Echo. Spacecraft: Echo 2. Decay Date: 1969-06-07 . USAF Sat Cat: 740 . COSPAR: 1964-004A. Apogee: 1,315 km (817 mi). Perigee: 1,030 km (640 mi). Inclination: 81.50 deg. Period: 108.80 min. Passive commsat; balloon; 1st joint US/USSR space mission. Spacecraft engaged in practical applications and uses of space technology such as weather or communication (US Cat C). .

1964 August 28

07:56 GMT - . Launch Site: Vandenberg. Launch Complex: Vandenberg SLC2E. LV Family: Thor. Launch Vehicle: Thor SLV-2 Agena B. FAILURE: Agena-B cut off too early. Partial Failure.. Failed Stage: U.
  • Nimbus 1 - . Payload: Nimbus A. Mass: 376 kg (828 lb). Nation: USA. Agency: NASA Greenbelt. Class: Earth. Type: Weather satellite. Spacecraft: Nimbus. Decay Date: 1974-05-16 . USAF Sat Cat: 872 . COSPAR: 1964-052A. Apogee: 937 km (582 mi). Perigee: 429 km (266 mi). Inclination: 98.70 deg. Period: 98.40 min.

    An Air Force Thor/Agena B was launched from Vandenberg and placed NASA's first Nimbus meteorological satellite into orbit. Returned 27,000 cloud cover images. The spacecraft carried an advanced vidicon camera system for recording and storing remote cloudcover pictures, an automatic picture transmission camera for providing real-time cloud cover pictures, and a high-resolution infrared radiometer to complement the daytime TV coverage and to measure nighttime radiative temperatures of cloud tops and surface terrain. A short second-stage burn resulted in an unplanned eccentric orbit. Otherwise, the spacecraft and its experiments operated successfully until September 22, 1964. The solar paddles became locked in position, resulting in inadequate electrical power to continue operations.

1965 November 29

04:48 GMT - . Launch Site: Vandenberg. Launch Complex: Vandenberg SLC2E. LV Family: Thor. Launch Vehicle: Thor SLV-2 Agena B.
  • Alouette 2 - . Payload: Alouette 2 / Explorer 31. Mass: 145 kg (319 lb). Nation: Canada. Agency: DRTE. Class: Earth. Type: Magnetosphere satellite. Spacecraft: Alouette. USAF Sat Cat: 1804 . COSPAR: 1965-098A. Apogee: 2,666 km (1,656 mi). Perigee: 503 km (312 mi). Inclination: 79.80 deg. Period: 117.90 min.

    Ionospheric research; data correlated with Explorer 31. The double-launch project, known as ISIS-X was the first in a new co-operative NASA-Canadian Defense Research Board program for International Satellites for Ionospheric Studies. Alouette was in orbit with an apogee just over a kilometre lower than Explorer 31's and with a perigee of just more than a kilometre higher. The orbits were some 3000 km at apogee and 500 km at perigee.

  • Explorer 31 - . Payload: DME A. Mass: 99 kg (218 lb). Nation: USA. Agency: NASA Greenbelt. Program: Explorer. Class: Earth. Type: Ionosphere satellite. Spacecraft: DME. USAF Sat Cat: 1806 . COSPAR: 1965-098B. Apogee: 2,833 km (1,760 mi). Perigee: 505 km (313 mi). Inclination: 79.80 deg. Period: 119.70 min.

    Ionospheric research; data correlated with Alouette 2. The Explorer 31, Direct Measurement Explorer, was launched with a Canadian Alouette II on November 28, 1965, on a Thor-Agena rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. The double-launch project, known as ISIS-X was the first in a new co-operative NASA-Canadian Defense Research Board program for International Satellites for Ionospheric Studies. Explorer 31 was in orbit with an apogee just over a kilometre more than Alouette's and with a perigee of just more than a kilometre lower. The orbits were some 3000 km at apogee and 500 km at perigee. Eight ionospheric measurement experiments sampled the environment both forward and after the satellite's path.