Vanguard TV3
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| Vanguard TV3 | |
 The Vanguard rocket explodes shortly after launch. |
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| Organization | Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) |
|---|---|
| Mission type | Earth science |
| Satellite of | Earth |
| Launch date | December 6, 1957 at 16:44:34 UTC |
| Launch vehicle | Vanguard rocket |
| NSSDC ID | VAGT3 |
| Webpage | NSSDC Master Catalog |
| Mass | 1.36 kg[1] |
Vanguard TV3 was the first attempt of the United States to launch a satellite into orbit around the Earth. It was a small satellite designed to test the launch capabilities of the three-stage Vanguard rocket and study the effects of the environment on a satellite and its systems in Earth orbit. It was also to be used to obtain geodetic measurements through orbit analysis.
At its launch attempt on December 6, 1957 at Cape Canaveral, the booster ignited and began to rise but about 2 seconds after liftoff, after rising about four feet (1.2 m), the rocket lost thrust and began to settle back down to the launch pad. As it settled against the launch pad the fuel tanks ruptured and exploded, destroying the rocket and severely damaging the launch pad. The Vanguard satellite was thrown clear and landed on the ground a short distance away with its transmitters still sending out a beacon signal. The satellite was damaged, however, and could not be reused. It is now on display at the National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution.[1]
The exact cause of the accident was never determined with certainty,[2] but the commonly accepted explanation is that low fuel tank pressure during the start procedure allowed some of the burning fuel in the combustion chamber to leak into the fuel system through the injector head before full propellant pressure was obtained from the turbo pump.
[edit] Satellite design
The payload was a 1.36 kg aluminum sphere 152 mm in diameter, nearly identical to the later Vanguard 1. It contained a 10 mW, 108 MHz mercury-battery powered transmitter and a 5 mW, 108.03 MHz transmitter powered by six solar cells mounted on the body of the satellite. Six short aerials protruded from the sphere. The transmitters were used primarily for engineering and tracking data, but were also used to determine the total electron content between the satellite and ground stations. Vanguard also carried two thermistors to measure the interior temperatures in order to track the effectiveness of the thermal protection.
[edit] Press
The big newspapers had a field day in headlines. There were numerous plays on the Russian Sputnik, such as "Flopnik"[3], "Kaputnik"[4] and "Stayputnik"[5].
[edit] References
- ^ a b Vanguard TV3. NSSDC Master Catalog. NSSDC, NASA. Retrieved on 2008-02-18.
- ^ McLaughlin Green, Constance; Lomask, Milton (1970). Chapter 11: From Sputnik I to TV-3. Vanguard - A History. NASA. Retrieved on 2008-02-18.
- ^ Sparrow, Giles (2007). Space Flight. Dorling Kindersley. ISBN 075662858X.
- ^ Burrows, William E. (1999). This New Ocean: The Story of the First Space Age. Modern Library, 205. ISBN 0375754857.
- ^ Alan Boyle (1997-10-04). Sputnik started space race, anxiety. MSNBC. Retrieved on 2008-03-17.
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This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2007) |
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