Kosmos 5 (russian: Космос 5 meaning ''Cosmos 5''), also known as 2MS #2 and occasionally in the West as Sputnik 15 was a scientific research and technology demonstration

satellite A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioiso ...

launched by the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

in 1962. It was the fifth satellite to be designated under the Kosmos system, and the third spacecraft to be launched as part of the MS programme, after Kosmos 2 and Kosmos 3. Its primary missions were to develop systems for future satellites, and to record data about artificial

radiation In physics, radiation is the emission or transmission of energy in the form of waves or particles through space or through a material medium. This includes: * ''electromagnetic radiation'', such as radio waves, microwaves, infrared, visi ...

around the Earth.

Spacecraft

Kosmos 5 was a 2MS satellite, the second of two to be launched, following the first which was launched as Kosmos 3 on 24 April 1962. The 2MS was the second of two types of MS satellite to be launched, following the first 1MS spacecraft which had been launched as Kosmos 2. Kosmos 5 was the penultimate MS satellite to be launched, and the last to successfully reach orbit. The last launch attempt, of a 1MS satellite, occurred on 25 October 1962, and failed to reach orbit. It had a mass of 280 kg.

Mission

It was launched aboard Kosmos-2I 63S1 s/n 3LK. It was the sixth flight of the Kosmos-2I, and the fourth to successfully reach orbit. The launch was conducted from Mayak-2 at

Kapustin Yar Kapustin Yar (russian: Капустин Яр) is a Russian rocket launch complex in Astrakhan Oblast, about 100 km east of Volgograd. It was established by the Soviet Union on 13 May 1946. In the beginning, Kapustin Yar used technology, material ...

, and occurred at 03:07:00 GMT on 28 May 1962. Kosmos 5 was placed into a

low Earth orbit A low Earth orbit (LEO) is an orbit around Earth with a period of 128 minutes or less (making at least 11.25 orbits per day) and an eccentricity less than 0.25. Most of the artificial objects in outer space are in LEO, with an altitude never m ...

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 el ...

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 el ...

of , an

inclination Orbital inclination measures the tilt of an object's orbit around a celestial body. It is expressed as the angle between a reference plane and the orbital plane or axis of direction of the orbiting object. For a satellite orbiting the Ea ...

of 49.1°, and an

orbital period The orbital period (also revolution period) is the amount of time a given astronomical object takes to complete one orbit around another object. In astronomy, it usually applies to planets or asteroids orbiting the Sun, moons orbiting pla ...

of 102.8 minutes. It decayed on 2 May 1963, after nearly a year in orbit. Kosmos 5 was among several satellites inadvertently damaged or destroyed by the

Starfish Prime Starfish Prime was a high-altitude nuclear test conducted by the United States, a joint effort of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) and the Defense Atomic Support Agency. It was launched from Johnston Atoll on July 9, 1962, and was the larg ...

high-altitude nuclear test on 9 July 1962 and subsequent radiation belt.

References

Spacecraft launched in 1962 1962 in the Soviet Union Kosmos 0005 Spacecraft which reentered in 1963 {{USSR-spacecraft-stub

Spacecraft

Mission

See also

References