A-103

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Mission emblem
Emblem of the Apollo program
Mission dates
Mission: A-103 (Saturn SA-9)
COSPAR-ID : 1965-009A
Launcher: Saturn I
serial number SA-9
Begin: February 16, 1965
2:38:00 PM  UTC
Starting place: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
LC-37B
Landing: September 17th 1978
burns up
Flight duration: 4,961 days
Earth orbits: approx. 75,918
Apogee : 523 km
Perigee : 430 km
Covered track: 3,115 million km
◄ Before / After ►
A-102 A-104

Mission A-103 (also known as Pegasus 1 ) was the first flight under NASA's Apollo program to launch an active research satellite. A two-stage Saturn I with a dummy of the Apollo spacecraft transported the satellite Pegasus 1 into a near-earth orbit (LEO). It was the first of three Pegasus missions.

aims

The task of the Pegasus missions was  to investigate the frequency of micrometeorites of the order of magnitude of 10 −7 to 10 −4 g (0.1 to 100 µg) in the near-earth region.

It was also another test of the interaction between Apollo and Saturn, as well as the Apollo Rescue Rocket (LES).

construction

Pegasus satellite
Active Launch Escape System (LES)

functional rescue rocket with a height of 4.70 m and an escape tower, a 3.05 m high support structure for the rescue rocket.

Apollo dummy (BP-16)

the lifelike model (called boilerplate) weighed 4,500 kg and consisted of

Command module (CM)
a conical aluminum construction with a base diameter of 3.91 m and 3.56 m high and
Service module (SM)
an aluminum construction, which also served as the payload fairing of the satellite, was mounted on the instrument unit of the second stage by means of an adapter section.
Pegasus satellite

It was firmly connected to the second stage, had a size of 5.28 × 2.13 × 2.41 meters and weighed 1,805 kg. The central unit comprised the electronics, sensors, solar panels and the mechanics for unfolding the two extendable detector surfaces. These were 29.3 meters long, 4.3 meters wide and registered the micrometeorite impact.

preparation

The steps were delivered to the Kennedy Space Center between October 22 and 30, 1964 and installed on Launch Complex 37B . There were no significant complications.

Flight history

Start of the A-103 mission

The launch took place on February 16, 1965 at 14:38:00  UTC . After the first stage had been disconnected and the second had ignited, the LES was also disconnected as planned by the rescue missile engines.

10 minutes and 30 seconds after launch, the missile slewed into orbit. Almost 3 minutes later, the Apollo spacecraft was separated from the second stage (and the satellite mounted on it) and put on its own trajectory. Pegasus remained in the planned orbit and unfolded its detector surfaces a minute later.

Its lifespan was calculated to be around 1,188 days, but it took more than 13 years for the satellite to burn up in the atmosphere on September 17, 1978.

Impact on the Apollo program

The mission was a complete success. Although insignificant errors occurred on the rocket and the satellite, all of the goals set were achieved.

The next two missions should bring two more Pegasus satellites into space.

Trivia

NASA changed the manufacturer of the first stage in 1964. The model with the serial number SA-9 was the last of eight that was manufactured by Marshall; SA-8, SA-10 and the following for the Saturn IB should come from Chrysler. Since Chrysler took a little longer to develop, SA-9 flew first. The mission designations (A-101 to A-105) remained chronological. This resulted in A-103 / SA-9 and A-104 / SA-8.

Web links

Commons : A-103  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files