Anna 1B

ANNA was a geodetic research satellite with the primary missions of measuring the strength and direction of the Earth's gravitational field, locating the centre of the Earth's mass and marking off positions on the Earth.

ANNA weighed 160 kg, was 0.91m in diameter and was powered by a band of solar cells around its equator supported by nickel cadmium batteries. A broad band spiral antenna was painted on the sphere, and the instrument tray was centrally mounted on the inside. Named for Army, Navy, Air Force and NASA. its sponsors, ANNA was launched October 31, 1962. The satellite contained optical, radio ranging and radio Doppler instrumentation. The optical system was a high intensity optical beacon activated by programmed command to set off a series of 5 light flashes 5.6 seconds apart. These were photographed by ground stations. The Navy Doppler frequency system was also still operable on command. Despite deterioration of the satellite's solar cells by the artificial radiation belt, ANNA had provided a large amount of geodetic information and permitted highly accurate positioning of tracking stations relative to the centre of the Earth. Findings of the Air Force flashing light and the Navy Doppler frequency measurement systems agreed to accuracies of 20 meters or better. The Army's radio-ranging system ceased operation in orbit too early to yield comparative data. Prime Contractor: The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.

Typical orbit: 1075 km x 1181 km at 50 degrees inclination. Mass: 160 kg (350 lb). Associated Launch Vehicle: Thor Able-Star.

• 1962 May 10 - Anna 1A - Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Vehicle: Thor Able-Star. FAILURE: Able-Star failed to ignite. Mass: 160 kg (350 lb).

  USN, USAF, US Army, NASA joint program.

• 1962 October 31 - Anna 1B - Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Vehicle: Thor Able-Star. Mass: 161 kg (354 lb). Perigee: 1,075 km (667 mi). Apogee: 1,181 km (733 mi). Inclination: 50.10 deg. Period: 107.90 min.

  Spacecraft engaged in research and exploration of the upper atmosphere or outer space (US Cat B).

• Aerospace Yearbook, 1966, .

• NASA Report, NASA/MOTS optical observations of the ANNA 1B satellite, . Accessed at: http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19660004947_1966004947.pdf. -right click to download pdfs!

• Bramscher, Robert G, Spaceflight, "A Survey of Launch Vehicle Failures", 1980, Volume 22, page 351.

• USAF Satellite Database, USAF Institute of Technology, 1995. Accessed at: ftp://archive.afit.af.mil/pub/space/.

• McDowell, Jonathan, Jonathan's Space Home Page, Harvard University, 1997-present. Jonathan McDowell's complete on-line listing of all objects orbited and over 20,000 rocket launches Accessed at: http://www.planet4589.org/jsr.html.

• Krebs, Gunter, Gunter's Space Page, University of Frankfurt, 1996. Accessed at: http://www.skyrocket.de/space.

• JPL Mission and Spacecraft Library, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 1997. Accessed at: http://msl.jpl.nasa.gov/home.html.