Vanguard TV-5

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Vanguard TV-5
Vanguard tv-3 launchpad.jpg
Vanguard rocket on LC-18A prior to its launch
NamesVanguard Test Vehicle-Five
Mission type Earth science
Operator U.S. Navy
Mission durationFailed to orbit
Spacecraft properties
SpacecraftVanguard TV-5
Spacecraft typeVanguard
Manufacturer Naval Research Laboratory
Launch mass9.75 kg (21.5 lb)
Dimensions50.8 cm (20.0 in) of diameter
Start of mission
Launch date29 April 1958, 02:53:00 GMT
Rocket Vanguard TV-5
Launch site Cape Canaveral, LC-18A
Contractor Glenn L. Martin Company
End of mission
Decay dateFailed to orbit
Orbital parameters
Reference system Geocentric orbit (planned)
Regime Medium Earth orbit
Perigee altitude 655 km
Apogee altitude 3970 km
Inclination 34.20°
Period 134.0 minutes
 

Vanguard TV-5, also called Vanguard Test Vehicle-Five, was a failed flight of the American Vanguard rocket following the successful launch of Vanguard 1 on Vanguard TV-4. Vanguard TV-5 launched on 29 April 1958 at 02:53:00 GMT, from Launch Complex 18A at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The rocket was unsuccessful in its attempt to place an unnamed satellite into orbit. [1]

Contents

Background

Project Vanguard (1955-1959) was America's first satellite program, initiated to represent the United States in the International Geophysical Year (IGY), an international effort to study the Earth's physical properties. The U.S. Navy's Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) was chosen to direct the satellite project in part due to their success with the Viking sounding rocket program. NRL was tasked with not only designing and building the satellite, also the booster that would carry it into orbit, as well as the first world-wide satellite tracking network (Minitrack). [2]

After three successful flight tests, which proved the Vanguard rocket's first stage and internal telemetry systems (TV-0 on 8 December 1956; TV-1 on 1 May 1957; TV-2 on 23 October 1957), Project Vanguard suffered two setbacks. On 6 December 1957, the first complete Vanguard rocket (TV-3), with three live stages and carrying a minimal satellite with no scientific experiments, blew up two seconds after liftoff. Two months later, on 5 February 1958, the identically configured TV-3BU broke up when a control system malfunction, after 57 seconds of normal flight, caused the Vanguard rocket to exceed a 45° angle of attack. [3] :283

On 17 March 1958, however, Vanguard 1 was successfully launched into orbit, marking the first full triumph for the project. The next step would be to launch a full-sized, instrumented Vanguard. [3] :283 For that purpose, TV-4BU, a back-up rocket identical to the TV-4 that had launched Vanguard 1, was converted to carry the larger satellite. [3] :223

A Glenn L. Martin Company technician installs the Vanguard TV-5 satellite onto its booster. Vanguard20inch002.jpg
A Glenn L. Martin Company technician installs the Vanguard TV-5 satellite onto its booster.

Spacecraft

Vanguard TV5's satellite was a 9.75 kg (21.5 lb), 50.8 cm (20 inches) diameter sphere whose shell was composed of magnesium coated with highly polished silicon monoxide. A 108.00 MHz transmitter at 80 milliwatts was designed to provide tracking and telemetry, transmitting and receiving using four protruding metal rod antennas. Power was supplied by mercury batteries. The payload included ionization chambers sensitive to X-ray wavelengths produced in solar flares (1 to 8 Å, or 100 to 800 pm). [4]

Mission

TV-5's first stage was erected on the firing stand at Launch Complex 18A by the first week of April. However, by then, the pad managers had viewed the flight film from TV-4 and determined that the hydraulic disconnects had not separated smoothly from the rocket at liftoff. A new, pull-away firing structure was under construction, but it would not be completed for some time. As a result, modifications were made to the existing, static stand. [3] :223

Vanguard TV-5 was launched on 29 April 1958 at 02:53:00 GMT (28 April 1958, 21:53:00 ET), [3] :223 from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The launch proceeded nominally through the second stage burnout 262 seconds after launch. Following this, however, two electric relays malfunctioned and failed to transmit the signal to arm the coasting flight control system, preventing the third stage from separating and firing. The second and third stages reached an altitude of 576 km (358 miles) and crashed about 2600 km (1600 miles) downrange from the launch site. This concluded the Vanguard Test Vehicle series, the Vanguard missions following this were designated Vanguard Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV) followed by a sequential number. [4]

The program achieved success in the following year with the launch of Vanguard 2 on 17 February 1959. [3] :284–285 TV-5's X-ray experiment package was successfully put into orbit on Vanguard 3, flown on Vanguard rocket SLV-7 on 18 September 1959. [5] However, the ionization chambers were completely saturated by the Van Allen Belts and returned no useful data. [6] :63 It was not until the instruments were orbited on SOLRAD 1 on 22 June 1960, a combination surveillance/science satellite designed on the Vanguard frame, [7] :300 that meaningful results were obtained. [6] :64

See also

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Thor-Able

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Vanguard TV-3BU

Vanguard TV-3BU, also called Vanguard Test Vehicle-Three Backup, was the second flight of the American Vanguard rocket. An unsuccessful attempt to place an unnamed satellite, Vanguard 1B, into orbit, the rocket was launched on 5 February 1958. It was launched from LC-18A at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Fifty-seven seconds after launch, control of the vehicle was lost and it failed to achieve orbit. At 57 seconds, the booster suddenly pitched down. The skinny second stage broke in half from aerodynamic stress, causing the Vanguard to tumble end-over-end before range safety officer sent the destruct command. The cause of the failure was attributed to a spurious guidance signal that caused the first stage to perform unintended pitch maneuvers. Vanguard TV-3BU only reached an altitude of 6.1 km (3.8 mi), the goal was 3,840 km (2,390 mi).

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Vanguard TV-1, also called Vanguard Test Vehicle-One, was the second sub-orbital test flight of a Vanguard rocket as part of the Project Vanguard. Vanguard TV-1 followed the successful launch of Vanguard TV-0 a one-stage rocket launched in December 1956.

Vanguard TV-2

Vanguard TV-2, also called Vanguard Test Vehicle-Two, was the third suborbital test flight of a Vanguard rocket as part of Project Vanguard. Successful TV-2 followed the successful launch of Vanguard TV-0 a one-stage rocket launched in December 1956 and Vanguard TV-1 a two-stage rocket launched in May 1957.

Vanguard SLV-1 Failed rocket launch

Vanguard SLV-1, also called Vanguard Satellite Launch Vehicle-1 was hoped to be the second successful flight of the American Vanguard rocket following the successful launch of the Vanguard 1 satellite on rocket Vanguard TV-4 in March 1958.

Vanguard SLV-2 Failed rocket launch

Vanguard SLV-2, also called Vanguard Satellite Launch Vehicle-2 hoped to be the second successful flight of the American Vanguard rocket following successful Vanguard 1 satellite on rocket Vanguard TV-4.

Vanguard SLV-3 Failed rocket launch

Vanguard SLV-3, also called Vanguard Satellite Launch Vehicle-3 hoped to be the second successful flight of the American Vanguard rocket following successful Vanguard 1 satellite on rocket Vanguard TV-4.

Vanguard SLV-5 Failed rocket launch

Vanguard SLV-5, also called Vanguard Satellite Launch Vehicle-Five hoped to be the third successful flight of the American Vanguard rocket following the successful Vanguard 2 satellite on rocket Vanguard SLV-4.

Vanguard SLV-6 Failed rocket launch

Vanguard SLV-6, also called Vanguard Satellite Launch Vehicle-Six, hoped to be the third successful flight of the American Vanguard rocket following the successful Vanguard 2 satellite on rocket Vanguard SLV-4. Vanguard Satellite Launch Vehicle-6 (SLV-6) was designed to carry a small spherical satellite into Earth orbit to study solar heating of Earth and the heat balance. A faulty second stage pressure valve caused a mission failure.

SOLRAD 2 U.S. satellite launched in 1960

SOLRAD 2 was the public designation for a combination surveillance and solar X-rays and ultraviolet scientific satellite, the second in the SOLRAD program developed by the United States Navy's Naval Research Laboratory. The SOLRAD scientific package aboard the satellite provided cover for the GRAB electronic surveillance package, the mission of which was to map the Soviet Union's air defense radar network.

References

  1. ↑ McDowell, Jonathan. "Launch Log". Jonathan's Space Report. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  2. ↑ "Vanguard Project". Naval Research Laboratory. Retrieved 24 April 2019.PD-icon.svgThis article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Constance Green and Milton Lomask (1970). Vanguard — a History. Washington, D.C.: NASA. ISBN   978-1-97353-209-5. SP-4202.PD-icon.svgThis article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  4. 1 2 "Vanguard TV5". NASA. 14 May 2020. Retrieved 2 February 2021.PD-icon.svgThis article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  5. ↑ "NASA, X-Ray Experiment, Vanguard 3". NASA. Retrieved 24 April 2019.PD-icon.svgThis article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  6. 1 2 Significant Achievements in Solar Physics 1958–1964. Washington, D.C.: NASA. 1966. OCLC   860060668.PD-icon.svgThis article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  7. ↑ American Astronautical Society (23 August 2010). Space Exploration and Humanity: A Historical Encyclopedia; 2 volumes; A Historical Encyclopedia. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. ISBN   978-1-85109-519-3.

Further reading

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