OSCAR 2

OSCAR 2
OSCAR 2
Mission typeCommunications
OperatorProject OSCAR / DoD
Harvard designation1962 Chi 1
COSPAR ID1962-022B Edit this at Wikidata
SATCAT no.305
Mission duration22 days
Spacecraft properties
Launch mass10.0 kilograms (22.0 lb)
Dimensions15.2 by 25.4 by 33 centimeters (6.0 in × 10.0 in × 13.0 in)
Start of mission
Launch date2 June 1962, 00:43 UTC
RocketThor DM-21 Agena-B
Launch siteVandenberg LC-75-3-4
End of mission
Decay date21 June 1962 (21 June 1962)
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric
RegimeLow Earth
Eccentricity0.01399
Perigee altitude207 kilometers (129 mi)
Apogee altitude394 kilometers (245 mi)
Inclination101.00 degrees
Period90.5 minutes
← OSCAR 1
OSCAR 3 →

OSCAR 2 is the second amateur radio satellite launched by Project OSCAR into Low Earth orbit. OSCAR 2 was launched June 2, 1962, by a Thor-DM21 Agena B launcher from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Lompoc, California. The satellite, a rectangular box (30 cm × 25 cm × 12 cm (11.8 in × 9.8 in × 4.7 in)) weighing 10 kg (22 lb), was launched as a secondary payload (ballast) for Corona 43, the fifth launch of a KH-4 satellite.

The satellite employed a monopole transmitting antenna 60 cm (24 in) long extended from the center of the convex surface, but had no attitude control system. OSCAR 2 lasted 18 days, ceasing operation on June 20, 1962, and re-entered June 21, 1962.[1][2]

OSCAR 2 incorporated certain design changes from the earlier OSCAR 1.[2]

The continuous radio Morse message "hi hi hi ..." by the first private satellites called OSCAR, beginning with OSCAR 1 in 1961 (recording from OSCAR 2, 1962)

See also

References

  1. ^ "Oscar 2". NASA National Space Science Data Center. 30 June 1977. Retrieved 14 February 2013.
  2. ^ a b "OSCAR 2". Gunter's Space Page. 31 December 1999. Retrieved 14 February 2013.

Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.