Explorer 8

Explorer 8
Type:	Research satellite
Country:	United States
Operator:	NASA
COSPAR-ID :	1960-014A
Mission dates
Dimensions:	40.88 kg
Begin:	November 3, 1960, 05:16 UTC
Starting place:	Cape Canaveral , LC-26B
Launcher:	Juno II
Flight duration:	54 days
Status:	burned up on March 28, 2012
Orbit data
Rotation time :	112 min
Orbit inclination :	33.24 °
Apogee height :	2288 km
Perigee height :	417 km
Eccentricity :	0.120936

Explorer 8 was a US satellite that was successfully launched on November 3, 1960 as part of the Explorer program . The original Explorer 8 was lost on March 23, 1960 due to a launch vehicle failure and was named S-46 . Therefore a replacement satellite was built.

begin

The satellite was launched on November 3, 1960 with a Juno II launcher from the LC-26B launch pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station .

mission

Explorer 8 was put into elliptical earth orbit by NASA . With an orbit inclination of 33.24 °, Explorer 8 achieved an apogee (greatest distance) of 2288 km and a perigee (smallest distance) of 417 km. The orbital time was 112 minutes and 42 seconds.

The aim of the mission was the more detailed exploration of the ionosphere with a focus on the measurement of electron density, electron temperature, ion concentration, ion mass, the scattering and distribution of micrometeorites and their mass. With these measurements the temporal and spatial distribution of the electrons and the micrometeorites were to be analyzed, whereby the accompanying circumstances like full solar radiation were also taken into account.

The payload was housed in a cylindrical capsule, the outer skin of which was made of aluminum. The cylinder was 76 cm long and also 76 cm in diameter. The transmitter carried for data transmission had an output of 100 mW and was fed by a mercury oxide-zinc battery .

The weight of the instruments was 8.4 kg. The instrument section at the front end of the satellite and the spent fourth stage of the rocket circled the earth as a unit that rotated around its longitudinal axis 750 times a minute. Solar cells were not used in order not to influence the experiments through the charging of the solar cells.

The measuring instruments included a probe for measuring resistances, an ion trap , a Langmuir probe , a probe for voltage braking, two micrometeorite detectors, a measuring device for electrostatics and a temperature probe.

Whereabouts of the satellite

On December 27, 1960, the battery was exhausted. Explorer 8 orbited Earth until March 28, 2012 at 1:14 UTC. Then the satellite re-entered the earth's atmosphere and should have completely burned out. The crash coordinates are 16.8 ° S / 73.2 ° W.

See also

• Explorer program
• List of space probes

Web links

Commons : Explorer 8  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files