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Class: Technology. Type: Tracking network. Nation: USA.

Small satellite was to have verified the readiness of the worldwide Mercury tracking network

Radio Test Spacecraft Chronology
  • 1961 May 5 - Scout to evaluate the Mercury tracking system. - Program: Mercury. Launch Vehicle: Scout.

    A document was issued regarding use of a Scout test vehicle to evaluate the performance of the Mercury tracking and real-time computing system. NASA Headquarters tentatively approved the plan on May 24, 1961.

  • 1961 June 13 - Mercury-Scout instrumentation system. - Program: Mercury. Launch Vehicle: Scout.

    The Space Task Group forwarded to NASA Headquarters the details for the Mercury-Scout instrumentation system. This mission was to check the operational effectiveness of the Mercury global tracking network.

  • 1961 October 29 - Mercury-Scout launch announced. - Program: Mercury.

    NASA announced that first Mercury-Scout launch to verify the readiness of the worldwide Mercury tracking network would take place at Atlantic Missile Range.

  • 1961 October 29 - Mercury-Scout announcement - Program: Mercury. Launch Vehicle: Scout.

    An announcement was made that a Mercury-Scout launch would be made to verify the readiness of the world-wide Mercury Tracking network to handle further orbital flights.

  • 1961 November 1 - Mercury MS-1 - Program: Mercury. Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Vehicle: Scout. FAILURE: Failure.

    Small satellite was to have verified the readiness of the worldwide Mercury tracking network. An attempt was made to launch Mercury-Scout 1 (MS-1) into orbit with a communications package further to qualify the radar tracking of the Mercury global network prior to manned orbital flight. Shortly after lift-off, the launch vehicle developed erratic motions and attending high aerodynamic loads, and was destroyed by the Range Safety Officer after 43 seconds of flight. No further attempts were planned. The Mercury-Atlas 4 (MA-4) mission and the successful Mercury-Atlas 5 (MA-5), flown on November 29, 1961, disclosed that the network met all requirements.

Bibliography:

  • Emme, Eugene M, Aeronautical and Astronautical Events of 1961 Report of NASA to the Committee on Science and Astronautics US House of Representatives 87th Cong 2d Sess, NASA, 1962. Web Address when accessed: http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/timeline.html.
  • Baker, David, The History of Manned Spaceflight, Crown, New York, 1981.
  • Bramscher, Robert G, Spaceflight, "A Survey of Launch Vehicle Failures", 1980, Volume 22, page 351.
  • Grimwood, James M., Project Mercury: A Chronology, NASA Special Publication-4001.
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