Vanguard SLV-5, also called Vanguard Satellite Launch Vehicle-Five hoped to be the third successful flight of the American
Vanguard
The vanguard (also called the advance guard) is the leading part of an advancing military formation. It has a number of functions, including seeking out the enemy and securing ground in advance of the main force.
History
The vanguard derives fr ...
rocket following the successful
Vanguard 2
Vanguard 2 (or Vanguard 2E before launch) is an Earth-orbiting satellite launched 17 February 1959 at 15:55:02 GMT, aboard a Vanguard SLV-4 rocket as part of the United States Navy's Project Vanguard. The satellite was designed to measure clo ...
satellite on rocket
Vanguard SLV-4.
Background
Vanguard Satellite Launch Vehicle-5 (SLV-5) was designed to place two satellites in orbit, Vanguard 3A, a of diameter sphere (Sphere A) equipped with a
magnetometer, and a of diameter
aluminum
Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It ha ...
-coated round inflatable sphere (Sphere B), containing no instrumentation, but an air density measurement device, for optical tracking. Launched in April 1959, the mission failed when the second stage failed to operate following first-stage separation. The satellites and third stage tumbled into the
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
several hundred kilometers off the coast after about 500 seconds of flight.
Launch vehicle
![Vanguard rocket-03](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/Vanguard_rocket-03.jpg)
Vanguard was the designation used for both the launch vehicle and the satellite. The first stage of the three-stage Vanguard Test Vehicle was powered by a
General Electric X-405 thrust liquid rocket engine, propelled by of
kerosene
Kerosene, paraffin, or lamp oil is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid which is derived from petroleum. It is widely used as a fuel in aviation as well as households. Its name derives from el, κηρός (''keros'') meaning "wax", and was regi ...
(
RP-1
RP-1 (alternatively, Rocket Propellant-1 or Refined Petroleum-1) is a highly refined form of kerosene outwardly similar to jet fuel, used as rocket fuel. RP-1 provides a lower specific impulse than liquid hydrogen (LH2), but is cheaper, is s ...
) and
liquid oxygen
Liquid oxygen—abbreviated LOx, LOX or Lox in the aerospace, submarine and gas industries—is the liquid form of molecular oxygen. It was used as the oxidizer in the first liquid-fueled rocket invented in 1926 by Robert H. Goddard, an app ...
, with helium pressurant. It also held of
hydrogen peroxide
Hydrogen peroxide is a chemical compound with the formula . In its pure form, it is a very pale blue liquid that is slightly more viscous than water. It is used as an oxidizer, bleaching agent, and antiseptic, usually as a dilute solution (3% ...
. It was finless, tall, in diameter, and had a launch mass of approximately .
The second stage was a high, of diameter
Aerojet General AJ-10
Aerojet was an American rocket and missile propulsion manufacturer based primarily in Rancho Cordova, California, with divisions in Redmond, Washington, Orange and Gainesville in Virginia, and Camden, Arkansas. Aerojet was owned by GenCorp. In ...
liquid engine burning
Unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine
Unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (UDMH; 1,1-dimethylhydrazine, НДМГ or codenamed Geptil) is a chemical compound with the formula H2NN(CH3)2 that is used as a rocket propellant. It is a colorless liquid, with a sharp, fishy, ammonia-like smell ...
(UDMH) and
White Inhibited Fuming Nitric Acid
Nitric acid is the inorganic compound with the formula . It is a highly corrosive mineral acid. The compound is colorless, but older samples tend to be yellow cast due to decomposition into oxides of nitrogen. Most commercially available nitric ...
(WIFNA) with a
helium
Helium (from el, ἥλιος, helios, lit=sun) is a chemical element with the symbol He and atomic number 2. It is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, inert, monatomic gas and the first in the noble gas group in the periodic table. ...
pressurant tank. It produced a thrust of and had a launch mass of approximately . This stage contained the complete
guidance and control system.
A solid-propellant rocket with of thrust (for 30 seconds burn time) was developed by the
Grand Central Rocket Company The Lockheed Propulsion Company was a division of the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation located at 1500 Crafton Avenue in the Mentone, California area northeast of Redlands, California, adjacent to the Santa Ana River, from 1961 to 1975. It developed, ...
to satisfy third-stage requirements. The stage was high, in diameter, and had a launch mass of . The thin steel casing for the third stage had a hemispherical forward dome with a shaft at the center to support the satellite and an aft dome fairing into a steel exit nozzle.
The total height of the vehicle with the satellite fairing was about . The payload capacity was to a Earth orbit. A nominal launch would have the first stage firing for 144 seconds, bringing the rocket to an altitude of , followed by the second stage burn of 120 seconds to , whereupon the third stage would bring the satellite to orbit. This was the same launch vehicle configuration, with minor modifications, as used for
Vanguard TV-3
Vanguard TV-3 (also called Vanguard Test Vehicle-Three), was the first attempt of the United States to launch a satellite into orbit around the Earth, after the successful Soviet launches of Sputnik 1 and Sputnik 2. Vanguard TV-3 was a small s ...
and all succeeding Vanguard flights up to and including
Vanguard SLV-6
Vanguard SLV-6, also called Vanguard Satellite Launch Vehicle-Six, hoped to be the third successful flight of the American Vanguard rocket following the successful Vanguard 2 satellite on rocket Vanguard SLV-4. Vanguard Satellite Launch Vehicl ...
.
Spacecraft
Magnetic Field Satellite
The primary objective of the
Magnetic Field Satellite (Sphere A) was to determine the source of
magnetic storms - to determine if they occur due to electric currents in the
ionosphere or from currents at much greater distances. A secondary objective was to obtain data on the daily cycle of
magnetic field variations, thus providing a highly accurate map of the Earth's main magnetic field in certain regions of space.
The Magnetic Field Satellite was a of diameter
fiberglass
Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass ( Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass clo ...
sphere with a 6.2 cm (2.44 inch) of diameter fiberglass cylindrical boom protruding from the top, and a diameter
magnesium
Magnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg and atomic number 12. It is a shiny gray metal having a low density, low melting point and high chemical reactivity. Like the other alkaline earth metals (group 2 of the periodic ta ...
cylinder protruding from the base. Four spring-actuated antennas were mounted to the satellites equator, equally spaced. Each antennas was in diameter at the base and at the tip. The interior of the satellite held a cylindrical magnesium container with two pressure-tight compartments. The lower compartment held the batteries, and the upper compartment held the magnetometer electronics, an 80
milliwatt
The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wat ...
telemetry transmitter operating at 108.3
MHz
The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one he ...
, a 10 milliwatt
Minitrack
The Minitrack Network was the first U.S. satellite tracking network to become operational, in 1957. It was used to track the flights of Sputnik, Vanguard, Explorer, and other early space efforts. Minitrack was the progenitor of Spacecraft Trackin ...
beacon transmitter at 108.00 MHz, and a command receiver. The magnetometer was a
proton precessional magnetometer. The magnetometer sensing unit was mounted in the outer end of the fiberglass boom. The design of the satellite required non-magnetic materials, including special batteries.
Sub-Satellite
The Sub-Satellite (Sphere B) objective was to provide data on air density in the outer limits of the
atmosphere of Earth
The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing fo ...
. A later version of the Magnetic Field Satellite was successfully launched as
Vanguard 3 (1959 Eta 1).
The Sub-Satellite was stored, uninflated, in a fiberglass container beneath the Magnetic Field Satellite, along with a small tank containing
nitrogen
Nitrogen is the chemical element with the symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a nonmetal and the lightest member of group 15 of the periodic table, often called the pnictogens. It is a common element in the universe, estimated at se ...
at a pressure of . On separation of the Magnetic Field Satellite, a preset latch would release the gas into the Sub-Satellite, inflating it and pushing it free of the spent third stage. Upon inflation, the Sub-Satellite would be a 76.2 cm (30 inch) diameter aluminum-coated mylar balloon. It contained no instrumentation and was designed to be optically tracked from
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...
to provide data on the density of the
upper atmosphere Upper atmosphere is a collective term that refers to various layers of the atmosphere of the Earth above the troposphere and corresponding regions of the atmospheres of other planets, and includes:
* The mesosphere, which on Earth lies between th ...
by measuring its effect on the satellite orbit.
Launch
Vanguard SLV-5 launched on 14 April 1959 at 02:49:46
GMT
Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is the mean solar time at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London, counted from midnight. At different times in the past, it has been calculated in different ways, including being calculated from noon; as a cons ...
(09:49:46 p.m. EST, 13 April 1959), from
Launch Complex 18A (LC-18A) 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.
Headquartered at the nearby Patrick Space Force Base, the statio ...
(CCAFS). At separation of the first stage 142.0 seconds after launch, caused the second stage engine to ignite while still attached to the first stage. Pressure from the engine exhaust pushed the thrust chamber to the limit of the gimbal stops, breaking them and causing loss of
attitude control
Attitude control is the process of controlling the orientation of an aerospace vehicle with respect to an inertial frame of reference or another entity such as the celestial sphere, certain fields, and nearby objects, etc.
Controlling vehicle ...
in flight. The pitch-attitude control of the second stage was lost due to large side forces acting on the second stage exhaust nozzle caused by back pressure built up in the interstage compartment. The third stage and satellites were thrown from the tumbling second stage. The second stage tumbled and the resultant forces caused a premature separation of the third stage and payload. Data was received from them until impact into the
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
eight minutes after liftoff.
NASA, Aeronautics and Astronautics Chronology, 1958
[ ]
See also
* Vanguard rocket
The Vanguard rocket was intended to be the first launch vehicle the United States would use to place a satellite into orbit. Instead, the Sputnik crisis caused by the surprise launch of Sputnik 1 led the U.S., after the failure of Vanguard TV-3 ...
* Project Vanguard
Project Vanguard was a program managed by the United States Navy Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), which intended to launch the first artificial satellite into low Earth orbit using a Vanguard rocket. as the launch vehicle from Cape Canaveral ...
* Comparison of orbital launch systems
This comparison of orbital launch systems lists the attributes of all individual rocket configurations designed to reach orbit. A first list contains rockets that are operational or in development as of 2022; a second list includes all retired roc ...
* Comparison of orbital rocket engines
* Rocket
A rocket (from it, rocchetto, , bobbin/spool) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using the surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely fr ...
* Spacecraft propulsion
References
Further reading
* Mallove, Eugene F. and Matloff, Gregory L. ''The Starflight Handbook: A Pioneer's Guide to Interstellar Travel'', Wiley,
{{Project Vanguard
Spacecraft launched in 1959
Project Vanguard
Satellite launch failures
Space accidents and incidents in the United States