UNITED STATES

BY EDGAR M. CORTRIGHT, Deputy Associate Administrator for Space Science and Applications

ONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

 During his research career, before the establishment of NASA, Mr. Cort-
right specialized i n high-speed aerodynamics,particularly problems related
to air induction system design, jet nozzle design, and interactions of a jet
with external air flow. He is the author of numerous technical reports and
articles. He is an Associate Fellow of the Institute of the Aeronautical
Sciences, He is a recipient of the Arthur S. Flemming Award for 1963.
Mr. Cortright is married to the former Beverly Hotaling. Mr. and Mrs.
Cortright and their two children, Susan J. and David E., live at 6909 Granby
Street, Bethesda, Maryland.
 I .Y ~ Y ,
~ ' I ~ I I ~ L 'VI
O F T H E U N I T E D STAT
BY EDGAR M. CORTRIGHT, Deputy Associate Administrator for Space Science and Applications

In 1957 the first earth satellite ushered in the age of space flight. Since
that historic event, space exploration has become a major national objective
of both the United States and the Soviet Union. These two nations have
attempted a total of well over 200 space flight missions. Other nations are
also participating in various degrees in what will continue to grow as a
cooperative world effort.
In the years since 1957, man has successfully flown in earth orbit. He has
initiated programs to land on the moon and return. He has made dramatic
applications of earth satellites in meteorology, communications, navigation,
and geodesy.
A host of scientific satellites.continue to advance understanding of the
earth's environment, the sun, and the stars. Automated spacecraft are
being flown to the moon, deep into interplanetary space, and to the near
planets, Mars and Venus.
One of the most exciting technological aspects of space exploration has
been the development of automated spacecraft. Most of the scientific explo-
ration of space and the useful applications of space flight thus far have been
made possible by automated spacecraft. Development of these spacecraft
and their many complex subsystems is setting the pace today for many
branches of science and technology. Guidance, computer, attitude control,
power, telecommunication, instrumentation, and structural subsystems are
being subjected to new standards of light weight, high efficiency, extreme
accuracy, and unsurpassed reliability and quality.
This publication reviews the automated spacecraft which have been de-
veloped and flown, or which are under active development in the United
States by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. From the
facts and statistics contained herein, certain observations can be made and
certain conclusions drawn.
 SCIENTIFIC SATELLITE HISTORY

Flight experience with scientific satellites through 1963 is summarized in

the chart on this page. This experience illustrates the gradual maturing of
the United States program to its record of 100%successful missions in 1962
and 1963. (This includes the Canadian-built satellite, Alouette, and the
British-instrumented satellite, Ariel.) Prior to 1962, the more modest suc-
cess rate was almost entirely attributable to the use of unproven launch
vehicles which have since been discarded. With one exception, Vanguard 11,
all satellites performed quite well when successfully orbited, at least during
their initial days of operation. Among the prime lessons learned from these
early experiences were the following: (1) To accomplish effectively space
exploration, one should develop a limited family of reliable launch vehicles
and use them; (2) Long-lived satellites are required to observe and monitor
space phenomena; (3) Reliability and long life are the two most important
ingredients of economical space exploration; (4) Reliability is best achieved
on the ground; by sound design, skilled workmanship, strict quality control,
and a very thorough environmental test program. I will have more to say
about these points later.

EXPLORER
XVll
 TYPICAL SCIENTIFIC SATELLITES
EXPLORER XI1

Explorers XII, XVII, and the Orbit-

ing Solar Observatory, are representa-
tive of scientific sateXteslLunc6ed to
date. Explorer XI1 is typical of a
se&s of geophysical satellitesdesigned
to survey the earth's magnetosphere,
the magnitude and direction of the
earth's magnetic field, the charged
particles trapped therein, and the flux
of solar and galactic cosmic rays. Ac-
cordingly, the satellite is designed to
operate in highly elliptical orbits. It
Ifeatures the simple spin stabilization
and solar power system used on many
of our satellites. Another area of geo-
physics being studied with satellitesis
the structure of the atmosphere. Ex-
plorer XVII w d launched in 1963
PERIMENTS-6 - .
GROSS WEIGHT-83 LBS INSTRUMENT WEIGHT-18 LBS EX-
POWER-16 W A m STABlLlZAllON-SPIN * DE-
SIGN LIA-1 YEAR LAUNCH VEHICLE-DELTA ORBIT-APOGEE
and.is unique in that it measures at-
mospheric temperature, pressure, and
41,717 NM PERIGEE 158 NM I N C L I N ~ I O N 33' STATUS- composition directly. In order to
LAUNCHED 15 AUGUST 1961. eliminate all possible sources of con-
tamination from the spacecraft itself,
EXPLORER XVll
including vaporizing solids, all equip-
ment was hermetically sealed within a
stainless steel shell.

Another satellite already flown is

the Orbiting Solar Observatory (OSO).
The OSO is unique in many respects.
It was the first true observatory in
orbit, and was designed to point se-
lected experiments at the center of
the sun with the direction measurable
to within one minute of arc. These
experiments are mounted on the solar
panel which is despun by gas jets in
the course pointing mode and finely
pointed by electric servomotors to an
accuracy of between 2 and 3 arc-
minutes. This spacecraft must re-
acquire and stabilize on the sun once
each orbit, which it has done thou-
sands of times with great precision
GROSS WEIGHI-410 L E I I H S I R U M M WEIGHT-47 U S Ec
PERIMENIS-8 POWER-110 WAnS * STA8lLluIlON-SPIN
. since its launching well .over two years
DESIGN LIFE-3 TO 4 MONTHS UUNCH VEHICLE-DELIA
BIT-APOGEE 495 NM PERIGEE 138 NM INCLINAIIOH 57.6O
OR. ago. Below this pointing section is a
STATUS-LAUNCHED 2 APRIL 1963. spinning electronics compartment
 whose plane of rotation includes the
ORBITING SOLAR OBSERVATORY
sun. This section, spinning a t 30
rpm, carried experiments which thus
saw the sun for 2 seconds per revolu-
tion. Another feature worth noting
is the very high ratio of instrument
weight to gross weight.

With regard to that important area

called ionospheric physics, the Cana-
dian Satellite Alouette, is particularly
noteworthy. Alouette, which utilizes
the topside sounding technique, has
had an outstanding flight record.
There were a minimum of malfunc-
tions during developmental testing,
and Alouette is functioning perfectly
after almost two years in orbit and
has recorded thousands of ionograms.
It has not even been necessarv to
GROSS WEIGHT-454 10s INsTRuMENl WEIGHT-173 Lns Ex- activate any of the redundant sysiems
PERIMENTS-13
- .
POWER-16 WATTS SUBILlZATlON-SPIN
DESIGN LIFE-6 MONTHS LAUNCH VEHICLE-DELTA ORBIT-
APOGEE 322 NM PERIGEE 299 NM INCLINATION 3 3 O STATUS-
built into this satellite.
LAUNCHED 7 MARCH 1962.

APPLICATION SATELLITE HISTORY

Experience with applications satel-

lites has been even more encouraging
as shown in the chart on this page.
There have been only two mission
failures since the program began in
1960. The initial attempt to launch
the Echo communications satellite
was the first and only failure of the
Delta launch vehicle. Because of
prior experience with stages of the
Delta, however, it was possible to cor-
rect the deficiencies so that all nine-
teen subsequent Delta launches have
been entirely successful. Because all
of the applications satellite missions
except TIROS I were based on the
Delta, the spacecraft have had un-
paralleled opportunities to perform.
All of the NASA satellites and the two
Telstar satellites sponsoged by private
industry were successful except for
the first Syncom, which malfunctioned
after achieving a near 22,300 mile
circular orbit.
 TY PlCAL APPLICATIONS SATELLITES

TlROS V I
TIROS VI, Relay, and Syncom are
typical of the many applications sat-
ellites launched to date. TIROS VI
is spin-stabilized, as were most first
generation satellites, but has an added
feature of a magnetic coil which can
interact with the earth's magnetic
field and precess the spin axis on
command. Picture taking is limited
to 32 stored pictures per orbit taken
along the spin axis. It is planned
that a later version of this spacecraft
will be magnetically torqued so that
the spin axis is parallel to the earth's
surface. On this satellite, the two
cameras will be pointed perpendicular
to the spin axis so as t o see the earth
twice during each revolution through-
out the entire orbit. In another ex- -.* .. -.- -
periment, TIROS may be flown to a GROSS WEIGHT-281 LBS INSIRUMENT WEIGHT-72 U S a-
22,300-mile apogee to explore the RM
RIE2SN-I IV CAMERAS • POWER-20 W A ~ S• SIABILIU-

..
TION-SPIN DESIGN LIFE-4 MONIHS LAUNCH VEHICLE-
effectiveness of weather photography OLLIA ORBIT-LPOGE 390 NM PERIGB 3 6 8 UM incL\nrnon
from that altitude. Thus, this space- soo SIAIUS-1110s VI LAUNCHED1 8 S E ~ E M B E R1962.
craft has shown an excellent and some-
what unexpected growth capability. RELAY SPACECRAFT

The Relay satellite, like Telstar, is

a n experiment in wide bandwidth
communications via signal relay be-
yond the horizon by an active trans-
ponder aboard a satellite. Relay dif-
fers from Telstar in its communica-
tion frequencies as well as its design
details. Both spacecraft achieved
most of their design objectives in-
cluding high quality real-time tele-
vision transmission between Europe
and the North American continent.
An operational system would include
a t least 20 to 30 such satellites.

The Syncom communication satel-

lite is designed for operation a t 22,-
300 miles altitude. At this altitude, GROSS WEIGHT-172 LBS IHSIRUMENT WEIGHT-47 LBS U-
it takes only three operating satellites PERIMENTS-4 POWER-4s w ~ n s s a s l L l m l o w - s P I n
DESIGN LIE-I VUR UUNCH VEHICLE-DELTA ORBIT-APO-
to provide worldwide coverage at all GEE 4012 NM PERIGEE 714 N U INCLINATION 47.S0 SIAlUS-
but very high latitudes. Quasi-fixed RELAY I UUNCHED 1 3 DEC 1962.
 but large ground antennae are re-
quired. The first Syncom achieved
its orbit but failed to function there-
SYNCOM SPACECRAFT
after. Syncom 11, however, has been
successfully orbited and maneuvered
precisely onto a predetermined sta-
tion. It is working well and on Au-
gust 23, 1963 was used for the f i s t
telephone conversation between heads
of state via satellite transmission.
(The United States and Nigeria.)

DEEP SPACE PROBE HISTORY

In contrast with scientific and ap-

plications satellite missions, experi-
ence with deep space probes as de-
picted on the chart, has recorded few
complete successes t o date. Pioneer
IV was the first United States space
GROSS WEIGHT-I50 L I . INSTRUMWT WEIGHT-I U S
POWER-25 WAIIS SlABILlZAllON-SPIN DESIGN LIFE-ONE
probe t o reach escape velocity-and
R A R LAUNCH VEHICLE-DEllA OR8IT-APOGEE 19,987 WM
orbit the sun, and was NASA's first
PERIGEE 18,102 N M IHCllNATIOH 33" SlAlUS-LAUHCHtD 13 successful deep space mission. Com-
f f l 1963.
munication was maintained with the
Pioneer spacecraft to 22.5 million
miles. Since Pioneer V, the outstand-
ing Mariner I1 flight to Venus has
been NASA's only completely success-
ful deep space mission. Whereas
prior to 1962 all failures resulted from
launch vehicle malfunctions, 1962 saw
three Ranger spacecraft experience
malfunctions on their flights to the
moon.

There are some additional lessons

here. The deep space missions are
the most difficult of all automated
spacecraft missions. They demand
I the utmost in performance from both
launch vehicles and spacecraft.
NASA's newest and least-developed
launch vehicles must be used for these
missions; and the spacecraft will con-
tinue to be complicated. It will be
very difficult to equal the reliability
of earth satellite missions with mis-
sions to the Moon, Mars, and Venus.
 TYPICAL DEEP SPACE PROBES
PIONEER V SPACECRAFI

Pioneer V, Ranger, and Mariner il-

lustrate past spacecraft experience
with interplanetary, lunar, and plane-
tary flight, respectively.

Pioneer V was a spin-stabilized,

solar-powered spacecraft bred from
earth satellite technology. It was
designed to make particle and field
measurements in interplanetary space.
The success of this relatively simple
spacecraft in returning valuable data
from up to 22.5 million miles con-
vinced NASA that interplanetary
monitors of this type should become
a basic part of its program. NASA
will begin a new Pioneer series in
1965 in support of t h e International
Quiet Sun Year (IQSY). GROSS WEIGHT-95 U S INSTRUMENT WEIGHT-9.5 U S U.
PERIMEllTI-4 WWER STUDV-15 WAllS PEAK-100 W A m .
The Ranger is really a second or
STABILIZATION-SPIN
VEHICLE-THOR-ABLE .
LAUNCHED-11 MARCH 1960 LAUNCH
TRUEnORV-INTERPUHnARY:
MUNICATED TO 22.5 MILLION MILES.
[OM-

third generation spacecraft. I t was

designed to fly to the moon and land RANGER SPACECRAFT (3-5)
an instrumented capsule a t a velocity
of less than 250 feet per second with-
in a fifty-mile circle. Because of the
unique requirements of this mission,
Ranger incorporated a number of
technical innovations. Three-axis sta-
bilization was achieved with an earth
sensor, which pointed the directional
antenna and locked the spacecraft in
roll, and with a sun sensor which
pointed the roll axis and solar panels
a t the sun and locked the spacecraft
in pitch and yaw. The spacecraft
could be programmed to any attitude
for a midcourse velocity correction ca-
pable of reducing the dispersion a t
the moon from several thousand miles
to about fifty miles. After the mid-
course maneuver was complete,
Ranger could reacquire its earth-sun
lock until arrival a t the moon. Upon
GROSS WEIGHT-756 LBS PAYLOAD WEIGHT-147 LBS U-
PERIMENTS-4 POWER-130 WAIIS
~ O ~ R S E - M O T(LIQUIO)
~R
. PROPULSION-MID.
c h s s u ~~ ~n a o . ( s o u o ) STABILIZA-
arrival, the Ranger could be pro- TION-ACTIVE 3 AHIS LIE-66 HR. TIlANSIT 3 0 DAY.CAPSULE
grammed to the proper attitude to LAUNCH VEHICLE-ATLAS-AGEWA II TRAJECTORV-LUNAR IM-
P A 0 VIA PARKING ORBIT ' STATUS-3 SPACECRAFI UUNCHED IN
align its capsule retrorocket axis with 1962.
the vertical descent velocity vector.
The retrorocket would be triggered
by a radar altimeter and would slow
down the instrument capsule to a
probable resultant impact velocity of
less than 250 feet per second. The
extremely sensitive seismometer cap-
sule could withstand this impact by
virtue of a ruggedized design and a
protective layer of balsa wood. On
the most successful.of the three flights
made with this spacecraft, it per-
formed all automatic functions prop-
erly prior to arrival a t the moon and MARINER II
executed t h e first midcourse correc-
tion made by a spacecraft. Two of
the Rangers hit the moon but none
returned-lunar data. Plans call for
7
additional Rangers of this type.

Mariner I1 was by far NASA's most

successful deep space probe. Its at-
titude control and midcourse maneu-
ver subsystems were functionally sim-
ilar to those of the Ranger just de-
scribed. On its 109-day, 180-million-
mile flight to Venus, Mariner I1 per-
formed beautifully despite minor prob-
lems including excessive temperatures,
a solar-panel short, and a weak earth
sensor signal. Less than 4 pounds of
nitrogen were consumed fo'r attitude
cont&l. Mariner's midcourse ma-
GROSS WEIGHT-449 LBS INSTRUMENT WEICHI-40 U S O(-
neuver corrected the Venus miss dis- PERIMENTS-6 POWER-150 WAIIS ' STABILIIAIION-ACIIVE
tance from about 233,000 miles to 3 AXIS DESIGN LIE-4 MONIHS LAUNCH VEHICLE-ATLII-
AGENA TRAJECTORY-INTtRPLANETARY, VENUS FLY-BY AT
21,000 miles. Mariner was intended 21.600 MILES STATUS-MISSION SUCCESSFULLY COMPLElEO
to miss Venus by 10,000 miles but ON 14 DECEMBER 1962.

was designed to scan Venus effectively

a t a distance of as much as 40,000
miles. All experiments worked very
well and returned invaluable radio-
metric observations of the planet's at-
mosphere and surface. The telemetry
signal strength a t earth was less than
10-l8 watts but was well within the
design signal-to-noise ratio. The
technology developed by Ranger and
Mariner will continue to be used in
NASA lunar and planetary space-
craft.
 TEST EXPERIENCES A N D FLIGHT OPERATIONS

As noted earlier, there is no

good substitute for extensive
ground testing in the develop-
ment of spacecraft. The table
presents the test history of an
average Explorer spacecraft.
In the five test phases, check-
out, vibration, temperature,
vacuum, and thermal vacuum,
this average spacecraft expe-
rienced 18.2 electrical failures
and 4.6 mechanical failures.
Most electrical failures oc-
curred during thermal vac-
uum and most mechanical fail-
ures during vibration.
VACUUM The long-term effectiveness
of such thorough testingstand-
ards is illustrated in the graph
entitled Space Flight Opera-
tions.
- - The -average
- time to
the first malfunction of anv
sort in flight of all of NASA's unmanned spacecraft had climbed to about 2
months in 1963. The average useful life has reached eight months and is
still rising because some spacecraft launched in prior years are still functioning
a t a useful level.
During the same time period, our space launch vehicles had risen to a
demonstrated reliability of loo%, paced by the Delta, which has now had 22
out of 23 successful launches.

SPACE
FLIGHT
OPERATION!
 SPACECRAFT COMPLEXITY

A real challenge is involved in maintaining these upward reliability and

life trends in the face of increasing complexity. The chart below illustrates
this fact by listing the approximate number of piece parts by subsystem for
three advanced spacecraft: Mariner 11, which has been described, and the Sur-
veyor and Orbiting Geophysical Observatory which are yet to be described.
These spacecraft contain about 54,000,82,000, and 100,000parts respectively.
A sizeable percentage are critical for effective mission performance. Only
time will tell whether we have moved too fast to this degree of sophistication.
 SPACECRAFT UNDER DEVELOPMENT
ORBITING GEOPHYSICAL OBSERVATORY

ytquFm@
Among the most scientifically im-
G A S STORAGE portant spacecraft under development
are the observatory class of satellites.
The Orbiting Geophysical Observa-
tory (OGO), a 1000-pound satellite, is
designed to carry from 20 to 50 experi-
ments in either circular polar orbits at
altitudes less than 1000 miles when
launched with a Thor-Agena, or in
highly eccentric inclined orbits with
apogees of around 70,000 miles when
launched with the Atlas-Agena. The
spacecraft is designed to hold its atti-
tude with the bottom looking directly
toward the earth, its solar panels to-
ward the sun, and selected experi-
ments toward earth, space, sun, or in
the direction of motion. A prime fea-
ture of the OGO is its data-handling
system which can store up to 43.2 mil-
GROSS WEIGI-1,000 LBS INSTRUMNIT W B G B - I 5 0 LBS lion bits of data a t an input rate of
-
EXPERIMENTS-20
.
POWER-SO0 W A n S STABILIZATION-
ACTIVE 3 AXIS DESIGN LIE-OWE YEAR LAUNCH VMI[LES-
1000 to 4000 bits per second and a
readout rate of 64,000 to 128,000 bits
-
ATUS-AGENA IHOR-AGENA ORBITS-HIGHLY ELLIPTICAL IN-
CLINE0 ORBIT-NEAR CIRCULAR POLAR ORBIT STATUS-FIW
FLIGHT 1964.
per second.
One of NASA's most ambitious and
significant scientific satellites is the
3600-pound Orbiting Astronomical
ORBITING ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATORY Observatory (OAO) to be placed in a
500-mile circular inclined orbit in
1965. Basically, the spacecraft is de-
signed to sense and point the optical
axis t o any point in the celestial
sphere, with the exception of a 90:
degree cone about the sun line, t o an
accuracy of 1minute of arc. Using the
experimenter's prime optics and a suit-
able error sensor, the spacecraft con-
trol system is designed to achieve a
h e pointing accuracy of 0.1 second of
arc for extended periods of time. This
has turned out to be a formidable task
with which we are still having some
problems. A combination of gas jets
and inertia wheels are the prime
movers.
The scientific experiments aboard
the OAO are among its most exciting
features. Initial flights will stress the
ultra-violet portion of the spectrum.
GROSS WEIGHT-3,600 L B INSIRUMENT WEIGHT-lp00 LBS ' The first flight will carry the sky sur-
-
EXPERIMENTS-11 STABlLlZAllON-ACTIVE 3 AXIS OESIGN
LIFE-I YEAR LAUNCH VEHICLE-ATLAS.AGfNA
CULAR-434 NM INCLINBION 32'
OMIT-CIR-
STATUS-FIRST FLIGHT
vey experiment of the Smithsonian
Astrophysical Observatory and the
1965. broad-band photometry experiment
11
 of the University of Wisconsin which
ADVANCED ORBITING SOLAR OBSERVATORY together total nine separate optical
subsystems plus spectrometers. The
second OAO will contain a NASA God-
dard Space Flight Center system for
s
the study of absolute s ectrophotom-
etry of several thousan stars and neb-
ulae. This system features a 36" pri-
mary mirror. The third unit will
carry Princeton University equipment
havlng a 32" fuzed uartz prlmary
9
mirror and intended or the study of
interstellar matter.
A new observator called the Ad-
vanced Orbiting ~ o r a rObservatory
(AOSO) has recently been initiated.
This observatory is designed for exten-
sive and detailed observations of the
sun not possible with the first genera-
tion OSO. The field of view will ex-
tend to about ten degrees centered on
the solar disk; yet a 5 arc second point-
ing precision will permit some 400 015-
servations in one pass across the sun's
diameter. This will permit spectral
moss WEIGHT-ma Imnummr WEIGHT-ZM
us us u- analysis of individual sun spots and
ERIMEWIS-SEVEUI
ACTIVE 3 UIS DESIGN LIFE-ONE YEM .
POWER-400 WAllS STAllLlZA1lOII-
UUNCH f i n l a € -
AGEMA ORBIT-CIRCULAR 300 NM • STATUS-FIRS RI~HT
other detail structure. A particularly
g technical problem is to lo-
challenr
cate an record in the brief time avail-
able major solar flares which occur
NIMBUS relatively infrequently and eplanate
from a small portion of the solar disk.
The most advanced meteorological
satellite is the Nimbus, designed to fly
early in 1964. The 750-pound Nimbus
will initially fly in a circular 80" retro-
grade orbit so that the orbital preces-
sion will maintain the earth illumina-
tion relatively constant (i.e., 12 o'clock
noon orbit). The Nimbus is fully sta-
bilized t o look a t the earth whlle its
solar panels seek the s u n Multiple
videcon TV cameras provide complete
daylight observation of the earth once
each 24 hours. Cloud pictures are
stored for readout a t two wide-band
readout stations in Alaska and Can-
ada, once each orbit. As a further
service, the Nimbus will continuously
transmit cloud pictures of a 1000-mile
square immediately under the satellite
to any user throughout the world will-
GROSS WE16Hl-675 LllS IWSTRUMEIIT WEIGHT-116 LBS
ing to invest in some modest receiving
and data- rocessing equipment.
UPFRIMEIIIS-3
.
POWER-4W W A m S l M l ~ ~ l l O I I - A W E
3 PIS DESIGN LIFE-ONE rtm UUIICH VEHICE-IHOR-
ACEWA ' ORBIT-CIRCULAR SO0 MY INCLIWATIOW BOO RElR&
The foIfow-on Pioneer deep space
GRADE SIAIUS-FIIST FLlGHl 1964.
probes are designed to monitor parti-
cles and fields a t distances up to 50 to
12
 90 million miles from earth. Two PIONEER
probes launched ahead of and trailing
the earth, plus earth satellites, will - -- == .
make possible the monitoring of a
large segment of the solar sector.
This small probe will deliver a data
rate of 16 bits per second up to 80 mil-
lion nautical miles, with much higher
rates early in the flight.
NASA's next planetary probe is a
Mariner, designed to duplicate the
Mariner I1feat of a close planetary fly-
by. In this case, however, the target
is Mars. Although Mariner-Mars
does not look much like Mariner 11, it
uses much of the same technology.
Some interesting variations include
,w
.. . the following: the use of a fixed high-
,-. gain antenna, made possible by the
. ;. .' +' particular earth-sun-planet geometric
-. relationships for this flight; a change
from earth reference to Canopus ref-
erence for one axis; and the addition
of solar pressure vanes a t the tips of GROSS WEIGHT-115 LBS INSTRUMENT WEIGHT-20 U S Et-
the solar panels to supplement and PERIMENTS-4 POWER-50 WAITS a SIABILIZATION-SPIN
back u the gas stabilization system.
The J a r s mission is more difficult TORV-INIERPLANEIARV .
DESIGN L I E - 6 MONTHS * LAUNCH VEHICLE-DELTA *.IUIEC-
STAIUS-FIRST FLIGHT 1965.

than the Venus mission because of in-

creased lifetime, increased communi-
cation distance and ower require- MARINER MARS
cf
ments, and a decrease solar constant.
The Mariner-Mars payload will in-
clude a TV telescope for surface
photography.
For the 1966 Mars mission, a version
of this spacecraft will be fitted with a
capsule to land and survive on the
Martian surface. The Atlas-Centaur
launch vehicle will be required. The
capsule landing will not be attempted
unless we can be assured that it is bio-
logically sterile. The basic spacecraft,
as on the 1964 flight, will not be sterile
but will use a trajectory providing less
than one chance in 10,000 of impact.
From a technological point of view,
we have found the use of heat, gas,
YIDCO,uLY I IAELIZATDU
PROP1ULSIt3N
liquids, and radiation to achieve com- NOZZLE
plete spacecraft sterilization without
degradation of reliability to be beyond
the state of art a t this time. Thus,
lunar spacecraft, such as the Ranger GROSS WEIGHT-570 LBS INSTRUMENT WEIGHT-40 LBS Et-
and Surveyor to be described, will set-
tle for surgically clean procedures
PERIMENIS-6
.
POWER-120 WAUS STABILllATlON-ACTIVE 3
AXIS DESIGN LIFE-8 MONTHS UUNCH VEHICLE-ATUS.AGENA
TRAIECTORY-INLRPLANETARV, MARS FLY-BV STATUS-FIRST
which are now deemed sufficient for FLIGHT IN 1964.
the moon.
13
 RANGER (6-9)
The next block of Ranger flights is
scheduled as a series of four space-
craft, Rangers 6 through 9. These
Wi3 SYSTEM
spacecraft are similar to those illus-
trated earlier, but with a high-resolu-
tion television subsystem substituted
for the landing capsule and its retro-
rocket. This TV subsystem will take
pictures of the lunar surface during
descent. The last full frame before
impact should resolve objects of about
1meter in diameter within a square 60
meters on a side. These flights will
provide spot sampling of the many
conflicting theoretical models of the " -"
lunar surface. Our detailed surface
reconnaissance must await the Sur-
veyor and a lunar photographic or-
biter on which work has recently been
initiated.
Surveyor, a 560-pound spacecraft,
weighs 2150 pounds when coupled
-
GROSS WEIGW-ID7 LBS EHPERIMENT-TELMSION (6 CAM-
ERAS) ' TELEYISION SUBSVSTEM WEIGHT-371 LIS * POWER-
with its retrorocket. It will fly to the
moon in a stabilized mode similar to
the Ranger but with a Canopus rather
110 WATIS * PROPULSION-MIDCOURSE MOTOR (LIQUID) * STA.
BILIUIIOW-ACIIW 3 AXIS LIE-66 HR. TMNSIT ' LAUNCH than an earth sensor. Two midcourse
YfHICLE-BUS AGENkB ' IWEClORV-LUNAR IM?ACl VIA maneuvers can be made with three
PAR~INGolmr STATUS-NET RIGHT 1964.
small liquid rockets which are also
SURVEYOR SPACECRAFT
used for landing. During descent, the
main retrorocket is fired by a marking
radar altimeter and attitude is main-
tained during this firing with the three
small liquid rockets. After firing the
main retrorocket is jettisoned and the
Surveyor will land under its own con-
trol using a dual Doppler radar sys-
tem. Once on the moon, the surface
will be observed with television cam-
eras, seismic activity will be monitored
and local physical and chemical sur-
face properties will be analyzed. Later
Surveyors may carry a small roving
vehicle. When these local sites are ob-
served from orbit and interrelated
with broad area photographic cover-
age, we should be in a good position
not only to describe the moon scientif-
ically with some accuracy, but to se-
lect a landing site for man.
The primary goal of the Lunar Or-
biter is the hotography of consider-
GROSS WEIGHT-2.100 LDS ' INSTRUMENT WEIGHT-100 LBS
EXPERIMENR-8 POWER-08 WATTS SIABlLlZATlOH-ACTIVE
F
able areas o the lunar surface for the
exploration and selection of landing
AS-LIQUID .
3 U I S PROPULSION RETRORO(KET-SOLID ' VBNlEU ROCK-
DESIGN LIE-30-90 DAYS * LAUNCH VEHICLE-
ATLAS.CENRUR ' TRlIECTORV-DIRECT ASCENT OR PARKING O b
sites for the Surveyor and Apollo mis-
sions. Additional investigations con-
BIT STATUS-FIRST FLIGHT 1964.
sist of measurements of the lunar
gravity field and the environment of a
near surface lunar orbit. On a typical
mission, the spacecraft is launched
from the AMR and injected into trans-
lunar trajectory by an Atlas/Agena
booster. After separation from the
Agena, the attitude control subsystem
orients the spacecraft with the solar
panels facing t h e sun and then rolls
the spacecraft until the star sensor
locks on Canopus. This attitude is
maintained a t all times except for mid-
course correction, lunar orbit injection
or transfer, or orientation for
photography.
At approximately 72 hours after
launch, the retro into lunar orbit is
made a t a nominal lunar altitude of
574 miles. After several orbits the ele-
ments of the spacecraft orbit are
known from tracking by the Deep
Space Instrumentation Facility with
sufficient precision to command a retro
maneuver into an elliptical orbit,
which has a perilune altitude ~f 29
miles over the area of interest. Photo-
graphs are taken from this final orbit
as the spacecraft passes over the spe-
cific target on one or more orbits, while GROSS WEIGHT-819 LBS ' IHSTRUMENT WEIGHT-116 LBS
telemetry records the conditions under IHVESTIGATIONS-TfLEMETERED FILM PHOTOGRAPHY-SELEHOD-
ESY EHVIRONMENTAL MEASUREMfHTS POWER-245 WATTS
which photos are taken. At this alti-
tude, the photographic system is de- 1 YR. I MONTH PHOTOG. .
(MAX) ' STA8ILIZATIOH-3 AXIS DESIGH LIFE-6 MONTHS TO
LAUNCH VEHICLE-MW.AGfNA
TRNECTORV-ECCENTRIC LUNAR ORBIT STATUS-DESIGN
signed to provide coverage of 24,800 PHASE.
sq. miles a t 26% feet resolution and
4,960 sq. miles a t 3%feet resolution.
T h e Biosatellite program is de-
signed to determine the biological ef-
fects on plants and animals of weight-
 BIOSATELLITE lessness, radiation, and the absence of
a diurnal cycle. A series of six biosat-
ellites are planned with the first flight
scheduled for late 1965. The satellites
will be launched from the AMR into a
230 mile circular orbit inclined a t 28.5"
to the equator. Biosatellites will re-
main in orbit for periods of 3 to 30
days depending upon the investiga-
tions being conducted.
The Biosatellite spacecraft consists
of the re-entry vehicle, which contains
the experiments along with the heat
shield and recovery system, and an
adapter, which houses all of the life
support supplies and equipment re-
quired during orbital flight. The re-
covery capsule itself is sealed and
temperature and humidity controlled.
Upon completion of time in orbit a
ground command will orient the space-
craft for separation of the re-entry
vehicle and firing of the retrorocket.
Upon re-entry, the capsule will be re-
covered in the alr or from the sea.

SUMMARY

The automated spacecraft constitute a unique addition to the rapidly evolv-

ing engineering and scientific scene. From a technological point of view, they
offer unique opportunities for imagination, creativity, design excellence, craft-
manship, and skilled flight operations. From a scientific point of view, they
offer a unique opportunity to extend our electronic sensors to distant worlds.
In a broader sense, they offer a unique opportunity to weld scientists and
engineers into a cooperative effort which can lead us-who knows where?

U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1964 OF-7.31-129

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office

Washington, D.C., 20402 - Price 15 cents

16
DATE DUE 1 U n i t e d S t a t e s . National
A e r o n a u t , i c s and Space
Dnmanned s p a c e c r a f t o f the
United S t a t e s -

DEFINITIONS

EARTH SENSOR-a photoelectric deuice that defects the earth and provides a reference for spacecrajl attitude
control.

NODES-The points at which an earth satellite's orbit crosses the plane of the earth's equator.

ORBITAL PLANE-an orbit phne is the plane defined by the curuedpath of a satellite and passes through the
center of the earth or other celestial object about which the satellite orbits.

PRECESSION-change in direction of the axis of rotation of a spinning body or of the plane of the orbit of an
orbiting body when acted upon by an outside force.

REDUNDANT SYSTEMS-duplicate systems intended to preuent failure of the entire uehicle or spacecrafl i f a
single system fails.

RETROGRADE ORBIT-An orbit, resultingfrom a launching to the west of a meridian, which precesses in the
direction of the earth's rotation.

SPECTROPHOTOMETRY-measuring the intensities of radiation as a function of the frequency or wauelength of

the radiation.

SPIN STABILIZE-nzainlaining a satellite's orientation by means of gyroscopic forces that result from its
spinning.

TOPSIDE SOUNDING-a techniquefor measuring electron density in the ionosphere by transmitting radio sig-
nalz downward from a point aboue the earth. .Contrasted with bottomside sounding carried out b y means of
radio transmitters on the ground.

TORQUE-a turning or twisting force; that which tends lo produce rotation of a body.

TRANSPONDER-a radio communications deuice consisting of receiving, ampft>ing, transmitting, and associ-
ated equipment that automafically responds and lransmits when triggered by another signal, not necessarily on
the same frequeny as receiued.

NASA Headquarters Libr3~0r

Washington, DC 20546
 i
TABLE OF CONTENTS 1\
d
Scientific Satellite History. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Typical Scientific Satellites. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Application satellit; History.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Typical Applications Satellites. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Deep Space Probe History. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Typical Deep Space Probes.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Test Experiences and Flight Operations. . . . . . 9
Spacecraft Complexity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Spacecraft Under Development. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17
II

1. N A. T I\'O N A L A E R O N A U T I C S AND SPACE ADMINISTRA