Pioneer 5
Thor Able launcher. | |
Mission type | Interplanetary space research |
---|---|
Operator | NASA |
Harvard designation | 1960 Alpha 1 |
COSPAR ID | 1960-001A |
SATCAT no. | 27 |
Mission duration | Launch to last contact 107 days; launch to last data received 50 days |
Spacecraft properties | |
Manufacturer | TRW |
Launch mass | 43.2 kilograms (95 lb)[1] |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | 11 March 1960, 13:00:07 UTC |
Rocket | LC-17A |
End of mission | |
Last contact | Last contact 26 June 1960[1] last data received 30 April 1960[2] | ;
Orbital parameters | |
Reference system | Heliocentric |
Eccentricity | 0.1689 |
Perihelion altitude | 0.7061 astronomical units (105,630,000 km; 65,640,000 mi) |
Aphelion altitude | 0.9931 astronomical units (148,570,000 km; 92,310,000 mi) |
Inclination | 3.35° |
Period | 311.6 days |
Pioneer 6 → |
Pioneer 5 (also known as Pioneer P-2, and Able 4, and nicknamed the "Paddle-Wheel Satellite"
Data was received until 30 April 1960. Among other accomplishments, the probe confirmed the existence of interplanetary magnetic fields.[5] Pioneer 5 was the most successful probe in the Pioneer/Able series.
The original mission plan was for a launch in November 1959 where Pioneer 5 would conduct a flyby of Venus, but technical issues prevented the launch from occurring until early 1960 by which time the Venus window for the year had closed. Since it was not possible to send the probe to Venus, it would instead merely investigate interplanetary space and an actual mission to the planet would have to wait another three years.[6]
Design and instruments
The spacecraft was a 0.66 metres (2 ft 2 in) diameter sphere with four solar panels that spanned over 1.4 metres (4 ft 7 in) and it was equipped with four scientific instruments:
- A triple coincidence omnidirectional proportional counter telescope to detect solar particles and observe terrestrial trapped radiation. It could detect photons with E > 75 MeV and electrons with E > 13 MeV.[7]
- A rotating search coil magnetometer to measure the magnetic field in the distant field of the Earth, near the geomagnetic boundary, and in interplanetary space.[8][9] It was capable of measuring fields from 1 microgauss to 12 milligauss. It consisted of a single search coil that was mounted on the spacecraft in such a way that it measured the magnetic field perpendicular to the spin axis of the spacecraft. It could output its measurements in both an analog and a digital format.[10]
- A Neher-type integrating Geiger-Müller tube (which functioned as a cosmic ray detector) to measure cosmic radiation. It was mounted normal to the spin axis of the spacecraft.[11]
- A micrometeorite momentum spectrometer (or micrometeorite detector) that consisted of two diaphragm and microphone combinations. It was used to measure the amount of meteoritic dust particles and the momentum of these particles.[12]
Mission
Booster performance during launch was overall excellent considering the numerous earlier difficulties with the Thor-Able vehicle. There were some minor anomalies with the second stage flight control system that resulted in unplanned pitch and roll motions, however, they were not enough to endanger the mission.
The spacecraft returned data collected by the magnetometer on the magnetic field and it measured that the median undisturbed interplanetary field was approximately 5 γ ± 0.5 γ in magnitude.[13] The spacecraft also measured solar flare particles, and cosmic radiation in the interplanetary region. The micrometeorite counter failed to operate as the data system saturated and failed to operate properly.[12]
The recorded digital data were transmitted at 1, 8, and 64 bit/s, depending on the distance of the spacecraft from Earth and the size of the receiving antenna. Weight limitations on the
Communications
In common with
See also
- Pioneer program
- Timeline of artificial satellites and space probes
- Mariner 2 (also measured interplanetary magnetic field like Pioneer 5)
References
- ^ a b "Pioneer 5". NASA's Solar System Exploration website. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
- ^ "NASA - NSSDCA - Spacecraft - Details".
- ^ Moore, Patrick (1962). The Observer's Book of Astronomy. Frederick Warne & Co.
- ^ "Chronology - Quarter 1 1960". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 6 August 2007. Retrieved 31 January 2008.
- ^ "The Pioneer Spacecraft". NASAFacts. NF-31/Vol 4, No. 3. U.S. Government Printing Office, 1967.
- ^ "Vintage Micro: The First Interplanetary Probe". 17 April 2015.
- ^ "NSSDC Master Catalog: Proportional Counter Telescope". NASA. Retrieved 31 January 2008.
- ^ Coleman, P.J.; Davis, Leverett; Sonett, C.P. (15 July 1960). "Steady Component of the Interplanetary Magnetic Field: Pioneer V". Physical Review Letters. 5 (2): 43–46. .
- ^
Dungey, J.W. (15 January 1961). "Interplanetary Magnetic Field and the Auroral Zones". Physical Review Letters. 6 (2): 47–48. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.6.47. Archived from the originalon 24 September 2017.
- ^ "NSSDC Master Catalog: Search-Coil Magnetometer". NASA. Retrieved 31 January 2008.
- ^ "NSSDC Master Catalog: Ion Chamber and GM Tube". NASA. Retrieved 31 January 2008.
- ^ a b "NSSDC Master Catalog: Micrometeorite Spectrometer". NASA. Retrieved 31 January 2008.
- ^
Greenstadt, E.W. (July 1966). "Final Estimate of the Interplanetary Magnetic Field at 1 A.U. from Measurements made by Pioneer V in March and April 1960". Astrophysical Journal. 145 (1): 270–295. doi:10.1086/148761.
- ^ "NSSDC Master Catalog: Pioneer 5". NASA. Retrieved 31 January 2008.
- ^ "An Interplanetary Communication System abstract" (PDF). STL/TR. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
- ^ "An Interplanetary Communication System pp. 2" (PDF). STL/TR. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
- ^ "Payload Command Receiver/Doppler Transponder" (PDF). STL/TR. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
- ^ "Project Thor-Able 4 Final Mission Report pp. 4-25" (PDF). STL/TR. Retrieved 6 August 2015.