Author Topic: Vanguard 1 1958 NASA  (Read 6116 times)

Online catdlr

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Vanguard 1 1958 NASA
« on: 07/13/2018 08:36 pm »
2nd US Satellite: Vanguard 1 1958 NASA; Oldest Satellite Still in Orbit

Jeff Quitney
Published on Jul 13, 2018

"On March 17, (1958) a Vanguard I rocket launched an Earth satellite with solar batteries. Data from the mission was used to determine that the Earth is slightly pear-shaped.

From "U.S. Space Explorations 1958", NASA Langley Research Center film L-703.

Vanguard 1 (ID: 1958-Beta 2) was the fourth artificial Earth orbital satellite to be successfully launched (following Sputnik 1, Sputnik 2, and Explorer 1). Vanguard 1 was the first satellite to have solar electric power. Although communication with the satellite was lost in 1964, it remains the oldest man-made object still in orbit, together with the upper stage of its launch vehicle. It was designed to test the launch capabilities of a three-stage launch vehicle as a part of Project Vanguard, and the effects of the space environment on a satellite and its systems in Earth orbit. It also was used to obtain geodetic measurements through orbit analysis. Vanguard 1 was described by the Soviet Premier, Nikita Khrushchev, as "the grapefruit satellite".

Spacecraft design

The spacecraft is a 1.47 kg (3.2 lb) aluminum sphere 16.5 cm (6.4 inches) in diameter. It contains a 10 mW, 108 MHz transmitters powered by a mercury battery and a 5 mW, 108.03 MHz transmitter that was powered by six solar cells mounted on the body of the satellite. Six short antennas protrude from the sphere. The transmitters were used primarily for engineering and tracking data but were also used to determine the total electron content between the satellite and the ground stations. Vanguard also carries two thermistors which measured the interior temperature over sixteen days in order to record the effectiveness of the thermal protection.

A backup version of Vanguard 1 is on display at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia.

Mission

On March 17, 1958, the three-stage launch vehicle placed Vanguard into a 654-by-3,969-kilometer (353 nmi × 2,143 nmi), 134.2 minute elliptical orbit inclined at 34.25 degrees. Original estimates had the orbit lasting for 2,000 years, but it was discovered that solar radiation pressure and atmospheric drag during high levels of solar activity produced significant perturbations in the perigee height of the satellite, which caused a significant decrease in its expected lifetime to only about 240 years. Vanguard 1 transmitted its signals for nearly seven years as it orbited the Earth.

The Vanguard 1 satellite and upper launch stage hold the record for being in space longer than any other man-made object.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Originally a public domain film from NASA, slightly cropped to remove uneven edges, with the aspect ratio corrected, and one-pass brightness-contrast-color correction & mild video noise reduction applied.
The soundtrack was also processed with volume normalization, noise reduction, clipping reduction, and/or equalization (the resulting sound, though not perfect, is far less noisy than the original).

Alternate video source to replace Jeff Quitney former YT account that was suspended.










« Last Edit: 04/30/2019 07:12 am by catdlr »
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Offline kevin-rf

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Re: Vanguard 1 1958 NASA
« Reply #1 on: 07/17/2018 03:20 pm »
Not to take us off topic, But Francis Gary Powers in his autobiography (Operation Overflight: A Memoir of the U-2 Incident ) discusses the earth being pear shaped and seems to imply this fact was know by the U-2 program before the Vanguard flight. It was one of the reasons overflights where so important, all the "targets" where off by at least 20 miles.
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Offline Blackstar

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Re: Vanguard 1 1958 NASA
« Reply #2 on: 07/17/2018 04:00 pm »
Not to take us off topic, But Francis Gary Powers in his autobiography (Operation Overflight: A Memoir of the U-2 Incident ) discusses the earth being pear shaped and seems to imply this fact was know by the U-2 program before the Vanguard flight. It was one of the reasons overflights where so important, all the "targets" where off by at least 20 miles.

That's interesting. I wonder how they determined the abnormal shape before satellites? Was it due to local gravity measurements, or by surveying?

Online Comga

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Re: Vanguard 1 1958 NASA
« Reply #3 on: 07/17/2018 04:12 pm »
Not to take us off topic, But Francis Gary Powers in his autobiography (Operation Overflight: A Memoir of the U-2 Incident ) discusses the earth being pear shaped and seems to imply this fact was know by the U-2 program before the Vanguard flight. It was one of the reasons overflights where so important, all the "targets" where off by at least 20 miles.

That's interesting. I wonder how they determined the abnormal shape before satellites? Was it due to local gravity measurements, or by surveying?

We are wandering well off topic, but "local gravity" is always normal to the surface for a body in hydrostatic equilibrium.

When we now refer to the Earth's shape as an oblate spheroid is that what they meant by "pear shaped"?
Is it the "argument of perigee" that changes as the elliptical orbit swings around the Earth? 
That continuous change in the orbit of Vanguard 2 would have been the clue to the Earth's oblate shape.
I bet they had a devil of a time, and quite a bit of fun, discerning one perturbation after another to what was probably a clean, Keplerian elliptical orbit model at launch.   

That film is terrific.  I like how the satellite is attached to the upper stage on the erected rocket by two guys, one of whom is wearing one white glove.
Also how Khrushchev derided it for it's small size, but like its American predecessor, Explorer 1,and unlike the Russian Sputnik propaganda devices, it generated real science.
« Last Edit: 07/17/2018 04:14 pm by Comga »
What kind of wastrels would dump a perfectly good booster in the ocean after just one use?

Offline whitelancer64

Re: Vanguard 1 1958 NASA
« Reply #4 on: 07/17/2018 04:24 pm »
Not to take us off topic, But Francis Gary Powers in his autobiography (Operation Overflight: A Memoir of the U-2 Incident ) discusses the earth being pear shaped and seems to imply this fact was know by the U-2 program before the Vanguard flight. It was one of the reasons overflights where so important, all the "targets" where off by at least 20 miles.

That's interesting. I wonder how they determined the abnormal shape before satellites? Was it due to local gravity measurements, or by surveying?

We are wandering well off topic, but "local gravity" is always normal to the surface for a body in hydrostatic equilibrium.

When we now refer to the Earth's shape as an oblate spheroid is that what they meant by "pear shaped"?
Is it the "argument of perigee" that changes as the elliptical orbit swings around the Earth? 
That continuous change in the orbit of Vanguard 2 would have been the clue to the Earth's oblate shape.
I bet they had a devil of a time, and quite a bit of fun, discerning one perturbation after another to what was probably a clean, Keplerian elliptical orbit model at launch.   

That film is terrific.  I like how the satellite is attached to the upper stage on the erected rocket by two guys, one of whom is wearing one white glove.
Also how Khrushchev derided it for it's small size, but like its American predecessor, Explorer 1,and unlike the Russian Sputnik propaganda devices, it generated real science.

The "pear shape" is literal. The southern hemisphere bulges outwards more than the northern hemisphere by about a meter or so. This was not discovered until analysis of the effects of the Earth's gravity on satellite orbits.

It could not have been detectable with U2 flights, but the oblateness would easily have been, and that is probably what was meant. It may be useful to double-check what the book says.

Although the oblateness of the Earth was known to surveyors in the 1800s, long before the U2 existed (the oblate spheroid shape of the Earth was proposed by Newton), it's possible the maps in use at the time did not correct for it.
« Last Edit: 07/17/2018 04:34 pm by whitelancer64 »
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Offline kevin-rf

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Re: Vanguard 1 1958 NASA
« Reply #5 on: 07/18/2018 02:27 pm »
That makes more sense...
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Offline Proponent

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Re: Vanguard 1 1958 NASA
« Reply #6 on: 07/18/2018 03:00 pm »
Also how Khrushchev derided it for it's small size, but like its American predecessor, Explorer 1,and unlike the Russian Sputnik
propaganda devices, it generated real science.

Explorer 1 delivered real science:  the discovery of the van Allen Belts.

Offline edkyle99

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Re: Vanguard 1 1958 NASA
« Reply #7 on: 07/18/2018 03:59 pm »
Also how Khrushchev derided it for it's small size, but like its American predecessor, Explorer 1,and unlike the Russian Sputnik
propaganda devices, it generated real science.

Explorer 1 delivered real science:  the discovery of the van Allen Belts.
All three did "real science". 

Vanguard 1's radio beacon experiment discovered the pear shape of the planet.  The symmetrical shape of the satellite allowed for a satellite atmospheric drag experiment, which essentially continues today because all it takes is observations of satellite position from the ground over time.  The satellite was also an engineering test of solar cells and rechargeable batteries in space (Vanguard 1 was the first solar powered satellite).

Sputnik 1 provided radio signal propagation measurements and, since it was also spherical and because it ultimately reentered, tracking it provided atmospheric drag information never before measured. 

 - Ed Kyle

Offline AS_501

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Re: Vanguard 1 1958 NASA
« Reply #8 on: 07/18/2018 04:37 pm »
Ironic.  The Russians laughed about a satellite so small you could hold it in your hands.  Now we marvel at Cubesats so small you can hold one in your hands.
Launches attended:  Apollo 11, ASTP (@KSC, not Baikonur!), STS-41G, STS-125, EFT-1, Starlink G4-24, Artemis 1
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Online Comga

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Re: Vanguard 1 1958 NASA
« Reply #9 on: 07/18/2018 08:46 pm »
Also how Khrushchev derided it for it's small size, but like its American predecessor, Explorer 1,and unlike the Russian Sputnik propaganda devices, it generated real science.

Explorer 1 delivered real science:  the discovery of the van Allen Belts.

That's what I said.

And yes, Ed, like the evolution of the orbit of Vanguard 1 taught us about the shape of the Earth and other perturbations, just putting something in orbit like Sputnik provided science on radio propagation and air density.
But there's still a distinction that the American satellites had systems specific to probing the environment.
What kind of wastrels would dump a perfectly good booster in the ocean after just one use?

Offline AS_501

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Re: Vanguard 1 1958 NASA
« Reply #10 on: 07/18/2018 09:09 pm »
If I recall, the original Vanguard 1 was recovered remarkably intact from the pad explosion and is now on display in the NASM(?)  Bent antenna, a few scorch marks.
Launches attended:  Apollo 11, ASTP (@KSC, not Baikonur!), STS-41G, STS-125, EFT-1, Starlink G4-24, Artemis 1
Notable Spacecraft Observed:  Echo 1, Skylab/S-II, Salyuts 6&7, Mir Core/Complete, HST, ISS Zarya/Present, Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, Dragon Demo-2, Starlink G4-14 (8 hrs. post-launch), Tiangong

Offline whitelancer64

Re: Vanguard 1 1958 NASA
« Reply #11 on: 07/18/2018 10:17 pm »
If I recall, the original Vanguard 1 was recovered remarkably intact from the pad explosion and is now on display in the NASM(?)  Bent antenna, a few scorch marks.

It is, yes.
"One bit of advice: it is important to view knowledge as sort of a semantic tree -- make sure you understand the fundamental principles, ie the trunk and big branches, before you get into the leaves/details or there is nothing for them to hang on to." - Elon Musk
"There are lies, damned lies, and launch schedules." - Larry J

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