Author Topic: Vanguard 1 celebrates 50 years on orbit  (Read 2294 times)

Offline Jirka Dlouhy

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Vanguard 1 celebrates 50 years on orbit
« on: 03/14/2008 07:17 am »
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23639980/

(First post was a copy and paste of another article, so I'm replacing it with Jim Oberg's article - Chris).

Offline Lawntonlookirs

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Re: Vanguard 1 celebrates 50 years on orbit
« Reply #1 on: 03/14/2008 11:53 am »
Thanks for the reminder of the early ages of the space program.  Happy Birthday Vanguard 1.
Everyman is my superior in that I may learn from him.  Albert Einstein

Offline William Barton

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Re: Vanguard 1 celebrates 50 years on orbit
« Reply #2 on: 03/14/2008 12:55 pm »
I was 7 years old when Sputnik, Explorer, and Vanguard flew, and in the second grade. I had learned to read well enough by then and consequently those days still live clearly in my memory. I'm grateful to have been a witness to this period of history. It's been a little bit like having been born in 1485, only with much better news coverage!

Offline Rusty_Barton

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Re: Vanguard 1 celebrates 50 years on orbit
« Reply #3 on: 03/14/2008 01:31 pm »
Vanguard I, the Saint Patrick's Day satellite! Should they have painted it green?

Here are a couple of links to online Vanguard history books in HTML and PDF format. The final link is to a PDF file that is an engineering summary about the Vanguard launch vehicle:

Vanguard - A History
Online Html book
http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4202/cover.htm
PDF version82-mb
http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19710008544_1971008544.pdf

The Vanguard satellite launching vehicle An engineering summary PDF 14-mb
http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19740072500_1974072500.pdf


Offline Proponent

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RE: Vanguard 1 celebrates 50 years on orbit
« Reply #4 on: 03/14/2008 03:16 pm »
Quote
Jirka Dlouhy - 14/3/2008  9:17 AM

Although Vanguard I’s solar-powered radio transmitter stopped transmitting in 1964, U.S. space surveillance systems still track the spacecraft.

Touring Goddard Spaceflight Center when a kid, I asked whether Vanguard I was still transmitting.  I was told that it had not been acquired since 1964, when the equipment used to receive Vanguard's transmissions on the antiquated frequency of 108 MHz was retired.  At that time, the signal was down to one-third of its strength at launch, because of solar-cell deterioration.

It seems likely that Vanguard I transmitted for some years after 1964, but there was no one to hear the signal.  At 108 MHz, no one can hear you scream.

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