SAS

Explorer 48 / SAS
Credit - NASA
Media Gallery

Other Designations: Small Astronomy Satellite. Class: Solar. Destination: Medium Earth Orbit. Nation: Italy. Agency: Italy, NASA.

Typical orbit: 515 km x 534 km at 2 degrees inclination. Mass: 174 kg (383 lb). Associated Launch Vehicle: Scout B, Scout D, Scout F.

SAS Chronology

1970 December 12 - Explorer 42 - Program: Explorer. Launch Site: San Marco. Launch Vehicle: Scout B. Mass: 143 kg (315 lb). Perigee: 521 km (323 mi). Apogee: 570 km (350 mi). Inclination: 3.00 deg. Period: 95.50 min.
Spacecraft engaged in research and exploration of the upper atmosphere or outer space (US Cat B).

1972 November 15 - Explorer 48 - Program: Explorer. Launch Site: San Marco. Launch Vehicle: Scout D. Mass: 185 kg (407 lb). Perigee: 526 km (326 mi). Apogee: 526 km (326 mi). Inclination: 1.00 deg. Period: 95.20 min.
Spacecraft engaged in research and exploration of the upper atmosphere or outer space (US Cat B).

1975 May 7 - Explorer 53 - Program: Explorer. Launch Site: San Marco. Launch Vehicle: Scout F. Mass: 195 kg (429 lb). Perigee: 498 km (309 mi). Apogee: 507 km (315 mi). Inclination: 3.00 deg. Period: 94.70 min.
Spacecraft engaged in research and exploration of the upper atmosphere or outer space (US Cat B).

Bibliography and Further Reading

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.

McDowell, Jonathan, Launch Log, October 1998. Jonathan McDowell's complete on-line listing of all objects orbited since Sputnik. Accessed at: http://hea-www.harvard.edu/~jcm/space/log/launch.html.

NASA Report, The Small Astronomy Satellite /SAS/ program, . Accessed at: http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19690011655_1969011655.pdf. -right click to download pdfs!

Contact us with any corrections, additions, or comments.

Conditions for use of drawings, pictures, or other materials from this site..
To contact astronauts or cosmonauts.

© Mark Wade, 1997 - 2007 except where otherwise noted.

Encyclopedia Astronautica
topic index
0 - A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - J - K - L - M - N - O - P - Q - Ra - Re - Sa - Sf - Sp - T - U - V - W - X - Y - Z