Well, that's a mystery.Why would DoD want a GEO comsat in a 57 degree orbit?
This is all consistent with the STS-53 payload diagram but gives much more detail - a very nice find, Jim!
Quote from: jcm on 06/08/2012 07:04 pmThis is all consistent with the STS-53 payload diagram but gives much more detail - a very nice find, Jim!do you have that?
http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/NTRS-PDF/19800071968_1980071968.pdf
Googling on the Project Engineer, one L. H. Ballinger, leads tohttp://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19800073789_1980073789.pdf
The P80-1 mission objective is to fly four space experiments:the Teal Ruby Experiment for assessment/verification of themultispectral mosaic focal plane telescopes;
Quote from: ChileVerde on 06/08/2012 07:24 pmGoogling on the Project Engineer, one L. H. Ballinger, leads tohttp://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19800073789_1980073789.pdf? ? ?QuoteThe P80-1 mission objective is to fly four space experiments:the Teal Ruby Experiment for assessment/verification of themultispectral mosaic focal plane telescopes; ? ? ?I suppose that is the telescope like looking thing in the payload diagram.
Right, P80-1/Teal Ruby was a notorious hangar queen - cost a bunch of money and never flew. It's sort of an ancestor of SBIRS.
I'm pretty sure that the Block II SDS was derived from Intelsat VI, not Leasat. I suspect that they made a change. I'd have to go back and look at my article, but I think that the block II decision was made after 1980. So maybe this represents an early iteration?
Quote from: jcm on 06/08/2012 07:45 pmRight, P80-1/Teal Ruby was a notorious hangar queen - cost a bunch of money and never flew. It's sort of an ancestor of SBIRS.This was back when it was boosted by two SRM's and an east coast mission. Somewhere at home, I have the PIP where it is renamed to AFP-888, with a monoprop orbital insertion system and was a VAFB mission (or was the post 51-L east coast mission)