OAO Credit - NASA

Typical orbit: 748 km x 758 km at 35 degrees inclination. Mass: 2,027 kg (4,468 lb). Associated Launch Vehicle: Atlas Centaur SLV-3C, SLV-3 Atlas / Agena D.

• 1966 April 8 - OAO 1 - Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Vehicle: SLV-3 Atlas / Agena D. 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 Vehicle: Atlas Centaur SLV-3C. 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 Vehicle: Atlas Centaur SLV-3C. 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 Vehicle: Atlas Centaur SLV-3C. 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

• NASA Report, The Observatory Generation of Satellites, . Accessed at: http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19630005290_1963005290.pdf. -right click to download pdfs!

• NASA Report, A computer control system for an advanced OAO, . Accessed at: http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19670026535_1967026535.pdf. -right click to download pdfs!

• Lockheed Martin Coporation, Atlas Family Fact Sheets, September 1998.. Accessed at: http://www.lmco.com/ILS/txtmain/ils_lsysinfo.htm.

• NASA Report, .

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

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

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

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