 | OAO
Credit - NASA
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Other Designations: Orbiting Astronomical Observatory. Class: Astronomy. Type: Visible. Destination: Medium Earth Orbit. Nation: USA. Agency: NASA. Typical orbit: 748 km x 758 km at 35 degrees inclination. Mass: 2,027 kg (4,468 lb).
OAO Chronology - 1966 April 8 - OAO 1 - Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: LC12. Launch Vehicle: Atlas. Mass: 1,774 kg (3,911 lb). Perigee: 783 km (486 mi). Apogee: 793 km (492 mi). Inclination: 35.00 deg. Period: 100.60 min.
Orbiting Astronomical Observatory. Spacecraft engaged in research and exploration of the upper atmosphere or outer space (US Cat B).
- 1968 December 7 - OAO 2 - Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: LC36B. Launch Vehicle: Atlas. Mass: 2,012 kg (4,435 lb). Perigee: 749 km (465 mi). Apogee: 758 km (470 mi). Inclination: 35.00 deg. Period: 99.90 min.
Orbiting Astronomical Observatory; carried 11 telescopes; performed X-ray, UV, IR observations of stars. Spacecraft engaged in research and exploration of the upper atmosphere or outer space (US Cat B). Launch vehicle put payload into geosynchronous transfer orbit
- 1970 November 30 - OAO-B - Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: LC36B. Launch Vehicle: Atlas. FAILURE: Shroud failed to separate. Mass: 2,121 kg (4,676 lb).
Orbiting Astronomical Observatory. Launch vehicle was to have put payload into geosynchronous transfer orbit
- 1972 August 21 - OAO 3 - Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: LC36B. Launch Vehicle: Atlas. Mass: 2,204 kg (4,858 lb). Perigee: 713 km (443 mi). Apogee: 724 km (449 mi). Inclination: 35.00 deg. Period: 99.20 min.
UV observations of stellar objects. Spacecraft engaged in research and exploration of the upper atmosphere or outer space (US Cat B). Launch vehicle put payload into geosynchronous transfer orbit
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.
- Bramscher, Robert G, Spaceflight, "A Survey of Launch Vehicle Failures", 1980, Volume 22, page 351.
- Lockheed Martin Coporation, Atlas Family Fact Sheets, September 1998.. Web Address when accessed: http://www.lmco.com/ILS/txtmain/ils_lsysinfo.htm.
- NASA Report,
- NASA Report, The Observatory Generation of Satellites, Web Address when accessed: http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19630005290_1963005290.pdf.
- NASA Report, A computer control system for an advanced OAO, Web Address when accessed: http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19670026535_1967026535.pdf.
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© Mark Wade, 1997 - 2008 except where otherwise noted.
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