San Marco 1
CNR | |
COSPAR ID | 1964-084A |
---|---|
SATCAT no. | 00957 |
Mission duration | ~272 days |
Spacecraft properties | |
Launch mass | 115.2 kilograms (254 lb)[1] |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | 15 December 1964, 20:24:00[1] | UTC
Rocket | Scout X-4[2] |
Launch site | Wallops LA-3A |
End of mission | |
Decay date | 13 September 1965[1] |
Orbital parameters | |
Reference system | Geocentric |
Regime | Low Earth |
Eccentricity | 0.0469[1] |
Perigee altitude | 198.0 kilometres (123.0 mi)[1] |
Apogee altitude | 846.0 kilometres (525.7 mi)[1] |
Inclination | 37.80 degrees[1] |
Period | 94.9 minutes[1] |
Epoch | 15 December 1964 20:24:00 UTC |
San Marco 1, also known as San Marco A, was the first
The name of the spacecraft series comes from the San Marco platform, a
Development
In 1961 the Italian government, led by
The spacecraft was built by members of the CRS, a group of distinguished Italian scientists and engineers including
The mission was principally a test-flight of a real satellite to gain experience before launches from Italy's own
Mission
The primary mission of the San Marco series was to conduct ionospheric (upper-atmosphere) research. As a test satellite San Marco 1 contained relatively few experiments;
- Atmosphere, an Ion probe.
- Electron-content Beacon, a radio transmitter to study ionospheric effects on long-range radio communication.
Launch
San Marco 1 was launched by an Italian crew using an American Scout rocket from Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia, US. Launched on 15 December 1964 at 20:24:00 UTC the satellite destructively re-entered the atmosphere on 13 September 1965.
See also
- San Marco programme
- Italian National Research Council
- Scout rocket
- Wallops Flight Facility
- Broglio Space Centre- formerly San Marco Equatorial Range
- Timeline of artificial satellites and space probes
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "San Marco 1". NASA – National Space Science Data Centre. Retrieved 2010-08-31.
- ^ Krebs, Gunter. "San Marco 1, 2 (A, B)". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 2010-08-27.
- ^ a b "II. SATELLITES". NASA History Office. Retrieved 2010-08-24.
- ^ "Chapter 18 - Cooperation With Western Countries". NASA History Office. Retrieved 2010-08-24.