S-46 (Explorer)

Explorer S-46
Type:	Research satellite
Country:	United States
Operator:	NASA
COSPAR-ID :	1960-F04
Mission dates
Dimensions:	16 kg
Begin:	March 23, 1960
Starting place:	CC LC-26B
Launcher:	Juno II
Status:	destroyed in case of false start
Orbit data

The Explorer S-46 was a failed satellite mission as part of the Explorer program of NASA . His task was to analyze electron and proton radiation energies in a very elliptical orbit.

construction

Explorer S-46 was with the two experiments

• CDS proton detector and
• an electron spectrometer

fitted. The power supply was ensured with solar cells and batteries.

False start

Explorer S-46 was on March 23, 1960, a Juno-II - carrier rocket from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station started. One of the bundled solid-state rockets of the second stage did not fire, causing the rocket to go off course. After radio contact was lost, the third stage could not be ignited, so the rocket could not reach Earth orbit. The satellite was lost.

Web links

• Explorer S-46 on Gunter's Space Page (English)
• Explorer S-46 at airandspace.edu
• Explorer S-46 in the Encyclopedia Astronautica (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ US Aeronautics and Space Activities, January 1 to December 31, 1960. (PDF) The White House, January 18, 1961, p. 2 , accessed on August 17, 2017 (English): “Communication with the Juno II launch vehicle was lost after second stage burnout. Probable cause of failure: a malfunction in one of the rockets in the second stage cluster causing angle deviation and a decrease in velocity. " 
2. ^ P. 46A. In: NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive. Retrieved on August 17, 2017 (English): "Telemetry was lost shortly after the first stage burnout and one of the upper stages failed to fire. The spacecraft did not achieve orbit. "