Discoverer 23, also known as KH-5 9016A, was a USAF photographic reconnaissance satellite under the supervision of the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) which was launched in 1961. It was a
KH-5 ARGON
KH-5 ARGON was a series of reconnaissance satellites produced by the United States from February 1961 to August 1964. The KH-5 operated similarly to the CORONA series of satellites, as it ejected a canister of photographic film. At least 12 ...
satellite, based on an
Agena-B. It was the second KH-5 mission to be launched, and the second to end in failure.
[https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1961-011A - 24 January 2020]
Launch
The launch of Discoverer 23 occurred at 19:21:08 GMT on 8 April 1961. A
Thor DM-21 Agena-B rocket was used, flying from
launch pad 75-3-5 at the
Vandenberg Air Force Base Vandenberg may refer to:
* Vandenberg (surname), including a list of people with the name
* USS General Harry Taylor (AP-145), USNS ''General Hoyt S. Vandenberg'' (T-AGM-10), transport ship in the United States Navy, sank as an artificial reef in K ...
.
Upon successfully reaching orbit, it was assigned the Harvard designation 1961 Lambda 1.
Mission
Discoverer 23 was operated in an
Earth orbit
Earth orbits the Sun at an average distance of 149.60 million km (92.96 million mi) in a counterclockwise direction as viewed from above the Northern Hemisphere. One complete orbit takes days (1 sidereal year), during which time Earth ...
, with a
perigee
An apsis (; ) is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body. For example, the apsides of the Earth are called the aphelion and perihelion.
General description
There are two apsides in any ellip ...
of , an
apogee
An apsis (; ) is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body. For example, the apsides of the Earth are called the aphelion and perihelion.
General description
There are two apsides in any ellip ...
of , 82.3° of
inclination
Orbital inclination measures the tilt of an object's orbit around a celestial body. It is expressed as the angle between a Plane of reference, reference plane and the orbital plane or Axis of rotation, axis of direction of the orbiting object ...
, and a
period
Period may refer to:
Common uses
* Era, a length or span of time
* Full stop (or period), a punctuation mark
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Period (music), a concept in musical composition
* Periodic sentence (or rhetorical period), a concept ...
of 93.77 minutes.
The satellite had a mass of ,
and was equipped with a frame
camera
A camera is an Optics, optical instrument that can capture an image. Most cameras can capture 2D images, with some more advanced models being able to capture 3D images. At a basic level, most cameras consist of sealed boxes (the camera body), ...
with a
focal length
The focal length of an optical system is a measure of how strongly the system converges or diverges light; it is the inverse of the system's optical power. A positive focal length indicates that a system converges light, while a negative foca ...
of , which had a maximum resolution of .
Images were recorded onto film, and ejected aboard a
Satellite Return Vehicle, SRV-521. Due to a problem with Discoverer 23's attitude control system, the SRV ended up boosting itself into a higher orbit rather than deorbiting.
Discoverer 23 decayed from orbit on 16 April 1962, followed by the SRV on 23 May 1962.
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References
Spacecraft launched in 1961
Spacecraft which reentered in 1962
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