Alouette 2 was a Canadian research satellite launched at 04:48
UTC on November 29, 1965, by a
Thor Agena
Thor-Agena was a series of orbital launch vehicles. The launch vehicles used the Douglas-built Thor first stage and the Lockheed-built Agena second stages. They are thus cousins of the more-famous Thor-Deltas, which founded the Delta rocket ...
rocket with
Explorer 31 from the Western test range at
Vandenberg AFB in
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
. It was (like its predecessor
Alouette 1, and
Explorer 31) designed to explore the
ionosphere
The ionosphere () is the ionized part of the upper atmosphere of Earth, from about to above sea level, a region that includes the thermosphere and parts of the mesosphere and exosphere. The ionosphere is ionized by solar radiation. It plays ...
.
History
The name "Alouette" came from the
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
for "
skylark
''Alauda'' is a genus of larks found across much of Europe, Asia and in the mountains of north Africa, and one of the species (the Raso lark) endemic to the islet of Raso in the Cape Verde Islands. Further, at least two additional species are ...
" and from the title of
a popular French-Canadian folk song. Alouette 2 was also known as ISIS-X since it was the first in a series of ISIS satellites: International Satellites for Ionospheric Studies. The next one was called
ISIS-I
ISIS 1 and 2 ("International Satellites for Ionospheric Studies") were the third and fourth in a series of Canadian satellites launched to study the ionosphere over one complete solar cycle. After the success of Canada's Alouette 1, Canada and ...
.
The Alouette 2 was built up from the identical backup satellite to
Alouette 1. It had many more experiments and more sophisticated support systems than the earlier satellite. It lasted for 10 years, being terminated on August 1, 1975.
RCA Victor
RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...
of
Montreal, Quebec
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pe ...
, was the prime contractor; Havilland Aircraft of
Toronto, Ontario
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
, served as associate contractor.
Post mission
After the ''Alouette 2'' was launched, the upper stage of the rocket used to launch the satellite became a
derelict object
Object may refer to:
General meanings
* Object (philosophy), a thing, being, or concept
** Object (abstract), an object which does not exist at any particular time or place
** Physical object, an identifiable collection of matter
* Goal, an ...
that would continue to orbit Earth for many years. , the upper stage remains in orbit.
[
]
The satellite itself became a derelict after August 1975. It too remains in earth orbit .
References
External links
1965-098Aat
NSSDCCBC Archives: Launching the Alouette 2 satellite
Satellites of Canada
Derelict satellites orbiting Earth
Spacecraft launched in 1965
Geospace monitoring satellites
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