Juno II
Juno II was an American space launch vehicle used during the late 1950s and early 1960s. It was derived from the Jupiter missile, which was used as the first stage. Development Solid-fueled rocket motors derived from the MGM-29 Sergeant were used as upper stages, eleven for the second stage, three for the third stage, and one for the fourth stage, the same configuration as used for the upper stages of the smaller Juno I launch vehicle. On some launches to low Earth orbit the fourth stage was not flown, allowing the launch vehicle to carry an additional nine kilograms of payload. Development of the Juno II was extremely fast due to being completely built from existing hardware. The project began in early 1958, and the first vehicle flew at the end of the year. Chrysler was responsible for the overall contract, while Rocketdyne handled the first stage propulsion and Jet Propulsion Laboratory handled the upper stage propulsion. The first three Juno IIs were converted Jupiter m ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Expendable Launch System
An expendable launch system (or expendable launch vehicle/ELV) is a launch vehicle that can be launched only once, after which its components are destroyed during reentry or impact with Earth, or discarded in space. ELVs typically consist of several rocket stages that are discarded sequentially as their fuel is exhausted and the vehicle gains altitude and speed. As of 2024, fewer and fewer satellites and human spacecraft are launched on ELVs in favor of reusable launch vehicles. However, there are many instances where a ELV may still have a compelling use case over a reusable vehicle. ELVs are simpler in design than reusable launch systems and therefore may have a lower production cost. Furthermore, an ELV can use its entire fuel supply to accelerate its payload, offering greater payloads. ELVs are a proven technology in widespread use for many decades. Current operators Arianespace China ISRO During the 1960s and 1970s, India initiated its own launch vehicle program ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Aluminum
Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has a great affinity towards oxygen, passivation (chemistry), forming a protective layer of aluminium oxide, oxide on the surface when exposed to air. It visually resembles silver, both in its color and in its great ability to reflect light. It is soft, magnetism, nonmagnetic, and ductility, ductile. It has one stable isotope, 27Al, which is highly abundant, making aluminium the abundance of the chemical elements, 12th-most abundant element in the universe. The radioactive decay, radioactivity of aluminium-26, 26Al leads to it being used in radiometric dating. Chemically, aluminium is a post-transition metal in the boron group; as is common for the group, aluminium forms compounds primarily in the +3 oxidation state. The aluminium cation Al3+ ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Atlas-Able
The Atlas-Able was an American expendable launch system derived from the SM-65 Atlas missile. It was a member of the Atlas family of rockets, and was used to launch several Pioneer spacecraft towards the Moon. Of the five Atlas-Able rockets built, two failed during static firings, and the other three failed to reach orbit. The Atlas-Able was a three-and-a-half-stage rocket, with a stage-and-a-half Atlas missile as the first stage, an Able second stage, and an Altair third stage. The first Atlas-Able used an Atlas C as the first stage, and was intended to carry Pioneer P-1, but exploded during a static fire test on 24 September 1959. The remaining Pioneer launches used Atlas D missiles. Launches were conducted from Launch Complexes 12 and 14 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) is an installation of the United States Space Force's Space Launch Delta 45, located on Cape Canaveral in Brevard County, Florida. Headqu ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Pioneer 3 Sequence
Pioneer commonly refers to a person who is among the first at something that is new to a community. A pioneer as a settler is among the first settling at a place that is new to the settler community. A historic example are American pioneers, persons in American history who migrated westward to settle in what is now the Western and Midwestern United States. Pioneer, The Pioneer, or pioneering may also refer to: Companies and organizations *Pioneer Aerospace Corporation * Pioneer Chicken, an American fast-food restaurant chain * Pioneer Club Las Vegas, a casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. *Pioneer Corporation, a Japanese electronics manufacturer * Pioneer Energy, a Canadian gas station chain *Pioneer Entertainment, a Japanese anime company *Pioneer Fund, racist foundation, 1937 *Pioneer Hi-Bred, a U.S.-based agriculture company *Pioneer Hotel & Gambling Hall, Laughlin, Nevada, U.S. *Pioneer Instrument Company, an American aeronautical instrument manufacturer *Pioneer movement, a co ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Explorer 11
Explorer 11 (also known as S-15) was a NASA satellite that carried the first space-borne gamma-ray telescope. This marked the beginning of space gamma-ray astronomy. Launched on 27 April 1961 by a Juno II, the satellite returned data until 17 November 1961, when power supply problems ended the science mission. During the spacecraft's seven-month lifespan it detected twenty-two events from gamma-rays and approximately 22,000 events from cosmic radiation. Launch Explorer 11 was launched for the purpose of detecting the sources of high-energy gamma rays. The spacecraft achieved an orbit with an apogee of , a perigee of , a period of 108.10 minutes, and an inclination of 28.90°. In addition to detecting gamma rays, Explorer 11 was designed to map their direction with emphasis on the plane of the galaxy, the Galactic Center, the Sun, and other known radio noise sources; to relate the measurements to the cosmic-ray flux density and the density of interstellar matter; and to mea ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Explorer 8
Explorer 8 was a NASA research satellite launched on 3 November 1960. It was intended to study the temporal and spatial distribution of the electron density, the electron temperature, the ion concentration, the ion mass, the micrometeorite distribution, and the micrometeorite mass in the ionosphere at altitudes between and and their variation from full sunlit conditions to full shadow, or nighttime, conditions. Spacecraft Explorer 8 was a mercury-battery-powered satellite. The payload was in the form of two truncated cones with the bases attached to a cylindrical equator. The outer shell was aluminum and had a diameter of and a height of . The 108.00 MHz transmitter had 100 mW average power, and it functioned for the life of the battery pack (54 days). The data system included telemetry consisting of continuous operation with real-time transmission. To avoid the possibility of effects on the experiments by asymmetrical charging on solar cell surfaces, solar cells were ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Explorer 7
Explorer 7 was a NASA satellite launched on 13 October 1959, at 15:30:04 GMT, by a Juno II launch vehicle from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) to an orbit of and inclination of 50.27°. It was designed to measure solar X-ray and Lyman-alpha flux, trapped energetic particles, and heavy primary cosmic rays. Secondary objectives included collecting data on micrometeoroid penetration, molecular sputtering and studying the Earth-atmosphere heat balance. Satellite description The spin-stabilized satellite's external structure consisted of two truncated conical fiberglass shells joined by a cylindrical aluminum center section. The spacecraft was wide at its equator and about high with a payload mass of about . The spacecraft was powered by approximately 3000 solar cells mounted on both the upper and lower shells. Additional power was provided by 15 rechargeable nickel-cadmium batteries that were positioned on its equator near the outer skin as an aid in maintai ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Pioneer 4
Pioneer 4 was an American spin-stabilized uncrewed spacecraft launched as part of the Pioneer program on a lunar flyby trajectory and into a heliocentric orbit making it the first probe of the United States to escape from the Earth's gravity. Launched on March 3, 1959, it carried a payload similar to '' Pioneer 3'': a lunar radiation environment experiment using a Geiger–Müller tube detector and a lunar photography experiment. It passed within of the Moon's surface. However, ''Pioneer 4'' did not come close enough to trigger its photoelectric sensor. The spacecraft was still in solar orbit as of 1969. It was the only successful lunar probe launched by the U.S. in 12 attempts between 1958 and 1963; only in 1964 would Ranger 7 surpass its success by accomplishing all of its mission objectives. After the Soviet Luna 1 probe conducted the first successful flyby of the Moon on 3 January 1959, the pressure felt by the US to succeed with a lunar mission was enormous, especia ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Pioneer 3
Pioneer 3 was a spin-stabilized spacecraft launched at 05:45:12 GMT on 6 December 1958 by the U.S. Army Ballistic Missile Agency in conjunction with NASA, using a Juno II rocket. This spacecraft was intended as a lunar probe, but failed to go past the Moon and into a heliocentric orbit as planned. It did however reach an altitude of 102,360 km before falling back to Earth. The revised spacecraft objectives were to measure radiation in the outer Van Allen radiation belt using two Geiger-Müller tubes and to test the trigger mechanism for a lunar photographic experiment. Spacecraft design Pioneer 3 was a cone-shaped probe 58 cm high and 25 cm diameter at its base. The cone was composed of a thin fiberglass shell coated with a gold wash to make it electrically conducting and painted with black and white stripes to maintain the temperature between 10 and 50 °C. At the tip of the cone was a small probe which combined with the cone itself to act as an antenna. At th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jet Propulsion Laboratory
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a Federally funded research and development centers, federally funded research and development center (FFRDC) in La Cañada Flintridge, California, Crescenta Valley, United States. Founded in 1936 by California Institute of Technology (Caltech) researchers, the laboratory is now owned and sponsored by NASA and administered and managed by Caltech. The primary function of the laboratory is the construction and operation of planetary robotic spacecraft, though it also conducts Earth-orbit and astronomy missions. It is also responsible for operating the NASA Deep Space Network (DSN). Among the major active projects at the laboratory, some are the Mars 2020 mission, which includes the ''Perseverance (rover), Perseverance'' rover; the Mars Science Laboratory mission, including the ''Curiosity (rover), Curiosity'' rover; the ''Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter''; the ''Juno (spacecraft), Juno'' spacecraft orbiting Jupiter; the ''Soil Moisture Active P ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Rocketdyne
Rocketdyne is an American rocket engine design and production company headquartered in Canoga Park, California, Canoga Park, in the western San Fernando Valley of suburban Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles, in southern California. Rocketdyne was founded as a division of North American Aviation in 1955 and was later part of Rockwell International from 1967 until 1996 and Boeing from 1996 to 2005. In 2005, Boeing sold the Rocketdyne division to United Technologies Corporation, becoming Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne as part of Pratt & Whitney. In 2013, Rocketdyne was sold to GenCorp, GenCorp, Inc., which merged it with Aerojet to form Aerojet Rocketdyne.Marjorie Censer(18 Dec 2022) L3Harris moves to acquire Aerojet Rocketdynefor $4.7 billion, after Lockheed Martin ended its attempt for Rocketdyne in Feb 2022 History After World War II, North American Aviation (NAA) was contracted by the Defense Department to study the German V-2, V-2 missile and adapt its engine to Society of Aut ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Low Earth Orbit
A low Earth orbit (LEO) is an geocentric orbit, orbit around Earth with a orbital period, period of 128 minutes or less (making at least 11.25 orbits per day) and an orbital eccentricity, eccentricity less than 0.25. Most of the artificial objects in outer space are in LEO, peaking in number at an altitude around , while the farthest in LEO, before medium Earth orbit (MEO), have an altitude of 2,000 km, about one-third of the Earth radius, radius of Earth and near the beginning of the Van Allen radiation belt#Inner belt, inner Van Allen radiation belt. The term ''LEO region'' is used for the area of space below an altitude of (about one-third of Earth's radius). Objects in orbits that pass through this zone, even if they have an apogee further out or are sub-orbital spaceflight, sub-orbital, are carefully tracked since they present a collision risk to the many LEO satellites. No human spaceflights other than the lunar missions of the Apollo program (1968-1972) have gone beyond L ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |