Discoverer 1

Discoverer 1 was the first of a series of satellites which were part of the CORONA reconnaissance satellite program. It was launched on a Thor-Agena A rocket on 28 January 1959 at 21:49:16 GMT from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. It was a prototype of the KH-1 satellite, but did not contain either a camera or a film capsule.[4] It was the first satellite launched toward the South Pole in an attempt to achieve polar orbit, but was unsuccessful. A CIA report, later declassified, concluded that "Today, most people believe the DISCOVERER 1 landed somewhere near the South Pole."[5]

Discoverer 1

An Agena-A stage.[1]
Mission type	Technology
Operator	US Air Force / CIA
Harvard designation	1959 Beta 1
COSPAR ID	1959-002A
SATCAT no.	13
Mission duration	17 March 1959
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft type	CORONA Test Vehicle
Bus	Agena-A
Launch mass	618 kg
Start of mission
Launch date	28 February 1959, 21:49:16 (1959-02-28UTC21:49:16Z) GMT
Rocket	Thor DM-18 Agena-A (Thor 163 - Agena 1022)[2]
Launch site	Vandenberg, LC 75-3-4
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Polar orbit[3]
Regime	Low Earth
Perigee altitude	163 km
Apogee altitude	968 km
Inclination	89.7°
Period	96.0 minutes

The DISCOVERER program was managed by the ARPA of the Department of Defense and the U.S. Air Force. The primary goal of the program was to develop a film-return photographic surveillance satellite to assess how rapidly the Soviet Union was producing long-range bombers and ballistic missiles and where they were being deployed, and to take photos over the Sino-Soviet bloc to replace the U2 spyplanes. It was part of the secret CORONA program which was also used to produce maps and charts for the Department of Defense and other US government mapping programs. The goal of the program was not revealed to the public at the time, it was presented as a program to orbit large satellites to test satellite subsystems and investigate the communication and environmental aspects of placing humans in space, including carrying biological packages for return to Earth from orbit. In all, 38 Discoverer satellites were launched by February 1962, although the satellite reconnaissance program continued until 1972 as the CORONA project. The program documents were declassified in 1995.[6]

Discoverer 1 was a test of the performance capabilities of the propulsion and guidance system of the booster and satellite. The launch took place from Vandenberg Air Force Base on a Thor-Agena A. After first stage burnout at 28,529 km/h, the rocket coasted to an orbital altitude where the second stage guidance system-oriented the spacecraft by means of pneumatic nitrogen jets. The second stage engine ignited when the correct attitude was achieved, putting the spacecraft into a polar orbit where it remained until re-entry on 17 March 1959. Discoverer 1 became the first man-made object ever put into a polar orbit. The difficulty was encountered receiving signals after launch, but the satellite broadcast intermittently later in the flight.[7]

In 1959, it was believed to have obtained orbit with speculation that the protective nose cone over the antennas was ejected just before the Agena fired and that the Agena then rammed into the nose cone, damaging the antennas.[8]

Discoverer 1 was a 5.73 m long, 1.52 m diameter cylindrical Agena-A upper-stage capped by a conical nosecone. The satellite casing was made of magnesium. Most of the 18 kg payload, consisting of communication and telemetry equipment, was housed in the nosecone. It included a high-frequency low-power beacon transmitter for tracking and a radar beacon transmitter with a transponder to receive command signals and allow long-range radar tracking. Fifteen telemetry channels (10 continuous and 5 commuted) were used to relay roughly 100 aspects of spacecraft performance. Unlike future Discoverer flights, this one did not carry a camera or film capsule.[7]