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Project Beacon
Beacon was one of America's first satellite programs. A balloon satellite, its objective was to study atmospheric density at its orbital altitude and to be the first United States satellite visible to the naked eye. Booster problems caused both orbital attempts to end in failure. Background Beacon was an International Geophysical Year (IGY) satellite program developed by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics Space Vehicle Group at Langley under aeronautical engineer William James O'Sullivan, Jr. O'Sullivan held the belief that measuring the air density at orbital altitudes would be of critical importance to a space agency and that a simple balloon satellite, several meters in diameter, would be well suited to the task as their relatively large size and low mass make them especially sensitive to air drag effects. After the Soviets launched the first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, on October 4, 1957, a high priority was placed on orbiting an American satellite th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Juno 2
Juno II was an American Launch vehicle, space launch vehicle used during the late 1950s and early 1960s. It was derived from the PGM-19 Jupiter, Jupiter missile, which was used as the first stage. Development Solid 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 were responsible for the overall contract, while Rocketdyne handled the first stage propulsion and Jet Propulsion Laboratory handled the upper stage propulsion. The first three were conve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
