Telstar 2

Telstar 2
Telstar 2
Mission type Communications
Operator AT&T / NASA
COSPAR ID 1963-013A
SATCAT no. 00573
Mission duration 2 years
Spacecraft properties
Manufacturer Bell Telephone Laboratories
Launch mass 176.0 kilograms (388.0 lb)
Start of mission
Launch date May 7, 1963, 11:38 (1963-05-07UTC11:38Z) UTC[1]
Rocket Delta B
Launch site Cape Canaveral LC-17B
Orbital parameters
Reference system Geocentric
Regime Medium Earth
Eccentricity 0.40048
Perigee 974 kilometres (605 mi)
Apogee 10,803 kilometres (6,713 mi)
Inclination 42.7°
Period 225.1 minutes
Epoch May 7, 1963 (1963-05-07)

Telstar 2 was a communications satellite launched by NASA on May 7, 1963. It remained active for 2 years.

History

Telstar 2, primarily a communications satellite, carried an experiment designed to measure the energetic proton and electron distribution in the Van Allen belts. The spacecraft spin axis shortly after launch was about 80 deg to the ecliptic plane. The initial spin rate was 180 rpm, and it varied slowly over the life of the spacecraft. Telstar 2 was essentially identical to the Telstar 1 satellite. It employed two transmitters, and data were telemetered via a PCM/FM/AM encoder. The telemetry sequence required about 1 min. Telstar 2 differed from Telstar 1 by employing provisions for scientific information to be transmitted in real time via the microwave telemetry system so that telemetry could be obtained after the 2 years timer had turned off the VHF beacon. On May 16, 1965, at 1403 UT, during the satellite's 4736 orbit, the VHF transmitter was turned off. All systems operated normally until that time.[2]

The satellite was launched into space on May 7, 1963, by Delta B vehicle from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, United States. The European receiving station for Telstar 2 was built in Brittany, France, near the village Pleumeur-Bodou. Under a radar dome of 50 meters in diameter is the pivotally mounted, like, antenna with 340 tons. Buildings can today be seen as a museum on communications.

See also

References

  1. ↑ McDowell, Jonathan. "Launch Log". Jonathan's Space Page. Retrieved May 3, 2017.
  2. ↑ NASA, Goddard Space Flight Center. "Telstar 2". NSSDC Master Catalog. Retrieved May 3, 2017. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
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