Delta 7425-10
Launch vehicle · USA
Original archive entry. The text, images and links below are kept as they were written.
American orbital launch vehicle. Four stage vehicle consisting of 4 x GEM-40 + 1 x EELT Thor/RS-27A + 1 x Delta K + 1 x Star 48B with 3.05 m (10 foot) diameter fairing
Related
- Family
- orbital launch vehicle
- Country
- USA
- Spacecraft
- MAP
- Launch Sites
- Cape Canaveral, Cape Canaveral LC17B
- Stages
- Delta Thor XLT-C, Delta K, GEM 40, Star 48
- Agency
- Douglas
Chronology
1 event
2001 June 30
19:46 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC17B. Launch Pad: SLC17B. LV Family: Thor. Launch Vehicle: Delta 7425-10.- MAP - .
Mass: 840 kg (1,850 lb). Nation: USA.
Agency: NASA Greenbelt.
Class: Astronomy.
Type: Infrared astronomy satellite. Spacecraft: MAP.
USAF Sat Cat: 26859 . COSPAR: 2001-027A. Apogee: 379,553 km (235,842 mi). Perigee: 4,704 km (2,922 mi). Inclination: 27.80 deg. Period: 14,669.70 min.
NASA's Microwave Anisotropy Probe (MAP) was placed in a 167 x 204 km x 28.8 deg parking orbit at 1958 GMT. At 2104 GMT the second stage ignited again for a 4 second burn, raising the orbit to around 181 x 308 km; the third stage spun up and ignited at 2108 GMT, accelerating MAP to a highly elliptical orbit of 182 x 292,492 km x 28.7 deg. MAP used on-board fuel to tweak the orbit and make a lunar flyby at fourth apogee on July 30, arriving at the L2 Earth-Moon Lagrangian point 1.5 million km from Earth three months later. From L2, MAP was to measure fluctuations in the cosmic 3 Kelvin microwave background with the degree of precision required to answer questions about the big bang and the total mass and fate of the universe. By July 22 the MAP probe was in a 4055 x 355,935 km x 28.0 deg orbit. It flew past the Moon on July 30 at 1639 GMT at an altitude of 5200 km above the lunar surface.