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Calsphere
List of passive satellites is a listing of inert or mostly inert satellites, mainly of the Earth. This includes various reflector type satellites typically used for geodesy and atmospheric measurements. Passive satellites *Calsphere **Calsphere 1A **Calsphere 2 **Calsphere 3 **Calsphere 4 **Calsphere 4A **Calsphere 5 *Dragsphere 1 *Dragsphere 2 *Enoch *Explorer 9 *GFZ-1 *Humanity Star * LCS-1 * PAGEOS *PAMS-STU, see STS-77 *POPACS *Reflector *PasComSat *Rigid Sphere 1 (AVL-802H) *Rigid Sphere 2 *Sfera Dedicated laser ranging satellites Mostly passive satellites * Starshine 3 *Echo project **Echo 1 (Echo 1A) **Echo 2 * Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster *Hayabusa2 **Deployable camera 3 (DCAM3) **Small Carry-On Impactor (SCI) **Target Marker B **Target Marker A **Target Marker E (Explorer) **Target Marker C (Sputnik/Спутник) * Tianwen-1 ** Tianwen-1 Deployable Camera 1 ** Tianwen-1 Remote Camera **Tianwen-1 Deployable Camera 2 See also * List of laser ranging satellites *L ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Laser Ranging Satellites
Satellite laser ranging (SLR) is a method to measure the distance to satellites in a geocentric orbit. It consists of an astronomical observatory equipped with a laser that sends ultrashort pulses of light. The pulses hit the satellite and bounce back to be caught by the station, which measure the round trip time with the speed of light formula. These measurements are instantaneous and with millimeter level precision, which can be accumulated to provide accurate measurement of orbits and a host of important scientific data. Some satellites have retroreflectors, but the method also works on space debris. Satellite laser ranging is a proven geodetic technique with significant potential for important contributions to scientific studies of the earth/atmosphere/ocean system. It is the most accurate technique currently available to determine the geocentric position of an Earth satellite, allowing for the precise calibration of radar altimeters and separation of long-term instrumentati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lincoln Calibration Sphere 1
The Lincoln Calibration Sphere 1, or LCS-1, is a large aluminium sphere in Earth orbit since 6 May 1965. It is still in use, having lasted for over 50 years. The sphere was launched along with the LES-2, Lincoln Experimental Satellite-2 on a Titan IIIA. It is technically the oldest operational spacecraft, but it has no power supply or fuel; it is merely a passive metal sphere. LCS-1 has been used for radar calibration satellite, radar calibration since its launch. It was built by Rohr. Corp. for the MIT Lincoln Laboratory. LCS-1 is a hollow sphere in diameter with a wall thickness of . The sphere was constructed from two hemispheres, made by spinning sheet metal over a mold. These hemispheres were fastened to an internal, circumferential hoop by 440 countersunk screws, then milled and polished. The initial finish had a surface roughness less than 10 micrometres and was expected to last for five years. Since its launch, I-band measurements have shown periodic deviations that likel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
STS-108 STARSHINE 2
STS-1 (Space Transportation System-1) was the first orbital spaceflight of NASA's Space Shuttle program. The first Space Shuttle orbiter, orbiter, Space Shuttle Columbia, ''Columbia'', launched on April 12, 1981, and returned on April 14, 1981, 54.5 hours later, having orbited the Earth 37 times. ''Columbia'' carried a crew of two—commander John Young (astronaut), John W. Young and pilot Robert Crippen, Robert L. Crippen. It was the first American crewed space flight since the Apollo–Soyuz, Apollo–Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) in 1975. STS-1 was also the maiden test flight of a new American spacecraft to carry a crew, though it was preceded by Approach and Landing Tests, atmospheric testing (ALT) of the orbiter and ground testing of the Space Shuttle system. The launch occurred on the 20th anniversary of Vostok 1, the first human spaceflight, performed by Yuri Gagarin for the Soviet Union, USSR. This was a coincidence rather than a celebration of the anniversary; a technical ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Starshine 3
Starshine 3 (also called SO-43 and OSCAR 43) is one of five satellites in the Starshine project (Student Tracked Atmospheric Research Satellite for Heuristic International Equipment). Starshine 3's main task was to study the density of the Earth's upper atmosphere. In addition, the and heavy spherical satellite body was covered with 1,500 mirrors, which were manufactured by machine technology students in Utah and polished by almost 40,000 students in 1,000 different schools. In addition, 31 laser reflectors and a radio beacon in the amateur radio frequency range (145.825 MHz) were attached. The transmitter was powered by solar cells and batteries. Starshine 3 had neither drive nor position control. Mission The satellite, together with the PICOSat, PCSat and SAPPHIRE satellites, was launched on September 30, 2001 with an Athena I rocket from Kodiak Launch Complex, Alaska, USA. Because of the mirrors, the satellite was visible to the naked eye from Earth at night. Students mea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Satellite Geodesy
Satellite geodesy is geodesy by means of artificial satellites—the measurement of the form and dimensions of Earth, the location of objects on its surface and the figure of the Earth's gravity field by means of artificial satellite techniques. It belongs to the broader field of space geodesy. Traditional astronomical geodesy is ''not'' commonly considered a part of satellite geodesy, although there is considerable overlap between the techniques. The main goals of satellite geodesy are: # Determination of the figure of the Earth, positioning, and navigation (geometric satellite geodesy) # Determination of geoid, Earth's gravity field and its temporal variations (dynamical satellite geodesy or satellite physical geodesy) # Measurement of geodynamical phenomena, such as crustal dynamics and polar motion Satellite geodetic data and methods can be applied to diverse fields such as navigation, hydrography, oceanography and geophysics. Satellite geodesy relies heavily on orbit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Balloon Satellite
A balloon satellite, sometimes referred to as a "satelloon", is a satellite inflated with gas after it has been put into orbit. Echo 1 and Echo 2 balloon satellites The first flying body of this type was Echo 1, which was launched into a high orbit on August 12, 1960, by the United States. It originally had a spherical shape measuring , with a thin metal-coated plastic shell made of Mylar. It served for testing as a "passive" communication satellite, communication and geodesy, geodetic satellite. One of the first radio contacts using the satellite was successful at a distance of nearly (between the east coast of the US and California). By the time Echo 1 burned up in 1968, the measurements of its orbit by several dozen Earth station (communications), earth stations had improved our knowledge of the precise shape of the planet by nearly a factor of ten. Its successor was the similarly built Echo satellite, Echo 2 (1964 to about 1970). This satellite circled the Earth about ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lunar Laser Ranging Experiment
Lunar Laser Ranging (LLR) is the practice of measuring Lunar distance (astronomy), the distance between the surfaces of the Earth and the Moon using Lidar, laser ranging. The distance can be calculated from the Round-trip delay, round-trip time of laser light pulses travelling at the speed of light, which are reflected back to Earth by the Moon's surface or by List of retroreflectors on the Moon, one of several retroreflectors installed on the Moon. Three were placed by the United States' Apollo program (Apollo 11, 11, Apollo 14, 14, and Apollo 15, 15), two by the Soviet Lunokhod programme, Lunokhod 1 and 2 missions, and one by India's Chandrayaan-3 mission. Although it is possible to reflect light or radio waves directly from the Moon's surface (a process known as Earth–Moon–Earth communication, EME), a much more precise range measurement can be made using retroreflectors, since because of their small size, the temporal spread in the reflected signal is much smaller and beca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tianwen-1
-1 ( zh , s = 天问一号) (also referred to as TW-1) is an interplanetary mission by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) which sent a robotic spacecraft to Mars, consisting of 6 spacecraft: an orbiter, two deployable cameras, lander, remote camera, and the ' rover. The spacecraft, with a total mass of nearly five tons, is one of the heaviest probes launched to Mars and carries 14 scientific instruments. It is the first in a series of planned missions undertaken by CNSA as part of its Planetary Exploration of China program. The mission's scientific objectives include: investigation of Martian surface geology and internal structure, search for indications of current and past presence of water, and characterization of the space environment and the atmosphere of Mars. The mission was launched from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site on 23 July 2020 on a Long March 5 heavy-lift launch vehicle. After seven months of transit through the inner Solar System, the spac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hayabusa2
is an asteroid sample-return mission operated by the Japanese state space agency JAXA. It is a successor to the ''Hayabusa'' mission, which returned asteroid samples for the first time in June 2010. ''Hayabusa2'' was launched on 3 December 2014 and rendezvoused in space with near-Earth asteroid 162173 Ryugu on 27 June 2018. It surveyed the asteroid for a year and a half and took samples. It left the asteroid in November 2019 and returned the samples to Earth on 5 December 2020 UTC. Its mission has now been extended through at least 2031, when it will rendezvous with the small, rapidly-rotating asteroid . ''Hayabusa2'' carries multiple science payloads for remote sensing and sampling, and four small rovers to investigate the asteroid surface and analyze the environmental and geological context of the samples collected. Mission overview Asteroid 162173 Ryugu (formerly designated ) is a primitive carbonaceous near-Earth asteroid. Carbonaceous asteroids are thought to p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster
Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster is an electric sports car that served as the dummy payload for the February 2018 Falcon Heavy test flight and became an artificial satellite of the Sun. A mannequin in a spacesuit, dubbed "Starman", occupies the driver's seat. The car and rocket are products of Tesla and SpaceX, respectively, both companies headed by Elon Musk. The 2010 Roadster is personally owned by and previously used by Musk for commuting to work. It is the first production car launched into space. The car, mounted on the rocket's second stage, was launched on an escape trajectory and entered an elliptical heliocentric orbit crossing the orbit of Mars. The orbit reaches a maximum distance from the Sun at aphelion of 1.66 astronomical units (au). Video of the Roadster during the launch was transmitted back to the mission control center and live-streamed. Advertising analysts noted Musk's sense of brand management and use of new media for his decision to launch a Tesla into spa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Echo Project
Project Echo was the first passive communications satellite experiment. Each of the two American spacecraft, launched in 1960 and 1964, were metalized balloon satellites acting as passive reflectors of microwave signals. Communication signals were transmitted from one location on Earth and bounced off the surface of the satellite to another Earth location. The first transmissions using Echo were sent from Goldstone, California, to Crawford Hill in Holmdel, New Jersey, on 12 August 1960. The last Echo satellite deorbited and burned up in the atmosphere on 7 June 1969.Astronautix.com, ''Echo'' Background The concept of using orbital satellites to relay communications predated space travel, first being advanced by[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sfera (calibration Satellite)
Sfera (TEKh-44) was a small passive satellite deployed during a spacewalk from the ISS in August 2012. Description Also called the Vektor-T calibration sphere, the satellite enables operators to track its movement, generate velocity and acceleration estimates to determine to what extent atmosphere is slowing down the sphere as it travels in space. Drag (velocity deceleration) estimates are used to determine localized atmospheric density. TEKh-44 is a shiny sphere 53 cm (20.8 inches) across weighing 14 kg (~31 pounds). "Sfera" is Russian for sphere. Re-entry It re-entered the atmosphere in late November 2012. Sfera-53 2 The second satellite, Sfera-53 2 (TS-530-Zerkalo), was launched on 14 June 2017 09:20 UTC, inside the Progress MS-06 cargo spacecraft on the Soyuz 2.1a carrier rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome Site 31/6. It was deployed on 17 August 2017 15:29 UTC. See also *List of passive satellites List of passive satellites is a listing of inert or mostly i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
