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Class: Technology. Destination: Medium Earth Orbit. Nation: USA. Agency: U.S. Air Force. Space craft engaged in investigation of spaceflight techniques and technology. The Rigidsphere and Gridsphere satellites of the 1960s were wire frames, embedded in an inflatable plastic substrate that sublimated away in space, leaving the open wire grid spheres.
Typical orbit: 770 km x 886 km at 88 degrees inclination.
Gridsphere Chronology - 1971 August 7 - Gridsphere 1 - Launch Site: Vandenberg. Launch Complex: 576A2. Launch Vehicle: Atlas. Mass: 37 kg (81 lb). Perigee: 756 km (469 mi). Apogee: 856 km (531 mi). Inclination: 87.60 deg. Period: 101.00 min.
Space craft engaged in investigation of spaceflight techniques and technology (US Cat A).
- 1971 August 7 - Gridsphere 2 - Launch Site: Vandenberg. Launch Complex: 576A2. Launch Vehicle: Atlas. Mass: 4.00 kg (8.80 lb). Perigee: 783 km (486 mi). Apogee: 915 km (568 mi). Inclination: 87.60 deg. Period: 101.90 min.
Space craft engaged in investigation of spaceflight techniques and technology (US Cat A).
Bibliography:- McDowell, Jonathan, Jonathan's Space Home Page (launch records), Harvard University, 1997-present. Web Address when accessed: http://www.planet4589.org/jsr.html.
- JPL Mission and Spacecraft Library, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 1997. Web Address when accessed: http://msl.jpl.nasa.gov/home.html.
- Lockheed Martin Coporation, Atlas Family Fact Sheets, September 1998.. Web Address when accessed: http://www.lmco.com/ILS/txtmain/ils_lsysinfo.htm.
- McDowell, Jonathan, Launch Log, October 1998. Web Address when accessed: http://hea-www.harvard.edu/~jcm/space/log/launch.html.
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© Mark Wade, 1997 - 2008 except where otherwise noted.
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