Explorer 36

Explorer 36 (also called GEOS 2 or GEOS B, acronym to Geodetic Earth Orbiting Satellite) was a U.S. satellite launched as part of the Explorers program, being the second of the two satellites GEOS. Explorer 36 was launched on January 11, 1968 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, with Delta rocket.

Explorer 36
Mission typeEarth science
OperatorNASA
COSPAR ID1968-002A[1]
SATCAT no.3093
Spacecraft properties
ManufacturerApplied Physics Laboratory[2]
Launch mass469 kg (1,034 lb)
Start of mission
Launch dateJanuary 11, 1968, 16:16:10 (1968-01-11UTC16:16:10Z) UTC[3][4]
RocketDelta-E1 454/D56
Launch siteVandenberg SLC-2E
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric
RegimeLow Earth
Eccentricity0.03615[1]
Perigee altitude1,082 kilometers (672 mi)[1]
Apogee altitude1,570 kilometers (980 mi)[1]
Inclination105.8°[1]
Period112.2 minutes[1]
Epoch11 January 1968[1]
Explorers
 

Explorer 36 was a gravity-gradient-stabilized, solar cell powered spacecraft that carried electronic and geodetic instrumentation. The geodetic instrumentation systems included:

Non-geodetic systems included a laser detector and a Minitrack interferometer beacon. The objectives of the spacecraft were to optimize optical station visibility periods and to provide complementary data for inclination-dependent terms established by the Explorer 29 (GEOS 1) gravimetric studies. The spacecraft was placed into a retrograde orbit to accomplish these objectives. Operational problems occurred in the main power system, optical beacon flash system, and the spacecraft clock, and adjustments in scheduling resulted in nominal operations.[1]

See also

References
  1. "GEOS". NSSDCA. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Retrieved 17 June 2018. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  2. "GEOS". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Mark Wade. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
  3. McDowell, Jonathan. "Launch Log". Jonathan's Space Page. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
  4. Antonín Vítek, Lubor Lejček (17 January 2012). "1968-002A - Explorer 36". Space 40 (in Czech). Retrieved 17 June 2018.


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