Explorer 9, known as S-56A before launch, was a

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeedi ...

satellite which was launched in February 1961 to study the density and composition of the upper

thermosphere The thermosphere is the layer in the Earth's atmosphere directly above the mesosphere and below the exosphere. Within this layer of the atmosphere, ultraviolet radiation causes photoionization/photodissociation of molecules, creating ions; the th ...

and lower

exosphere The exosphere ( grc, ἔξω "outside, external, beyond", grc, σφαῖρα "sphere") is a thin, atmosphere-like volume surrounding a planet or natural satellite where molecules are gravitationally bound to that body, but where the densit ...

. It was a reflight of the failed Explorer S-56 mission, and consisted of a ,

balloon A balloon is a flexible bag that can be inflated with a gas, such as helium, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, oxygen, and air. For special tasks, balloons can be filled with smoke, liquid water, granular media (e.g. sand, flour or rice), or li ...

which was deployed into a

medium Earth orbit A medium Earth orbit (MEO) is an Earth-centered orbit with an altitude above a low Earth orbit (LEO) and below a high Earth orbit (HEO) – between above sea level.

. The mission was conducted by

Langley Research Center The Langley Research Center (LaRC or NASA Langley), located in Hampton, Virginia, United States of America, is the oldest of NASA's field centers. It directly borders Langley Air Force Base and the Back River on the Chesapeake Bay. LaRC has f ...

Spacecraft

The spacecraft consisted of alternating layers of

aluminium foil Aluminium foil (or aluminum foil in North American English; often informally called tin foil) is aluminium prepared in thin metal leaves with a thickness less than ; thinner gauges down to are also commonly used. Standard household foil is typ ...

and

Mylar BoPET (biaxially-oriented polyethylene terephthalate) is a polyester film made from stretched polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and is used for its high tensile strength, chemical and dimensional stability, transparency, reflectivity, gas and ...

polyester film. Uniformly distributed over the aluminium surface were -diameter dots of white paint for thermal control. The sphere was packed in a tube in diameter and long and mounted in the nose of the fourth stage of its Scout X-1 launch vehicle.

Experiment

Satellite Drag Atmospheric Density

Because of its symmetrical shape, Explorer 9 was selected for use in determining upper atmospheric densities as a function of altitude, latitude, season, and solar activity. Density values near perigee were deduced from sequential observations of the spacecraft position, using optical ( Baker-Nunn camera network) and radar tracking techniques. A good discussion of the general techniques used to deduce density values from satellite drag data can be found in L. G. Jacchia and J. Slowey, "Accurate drag determination for eight artificial satellites of atmospheric densities and temperatures",

Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) is a research institute of the Smithsonian Institution, concentrating on astrophysical studies including galactic and extragalactic astronomy, cosmology, solar, earth and planetary sciences, the ...

special report n. 100,

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Greater Boston, Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most ...

, July 1962. This experiment resulted in the successful determination of reasonable density values until the satellite reentered the Earth's atmosphere on 9 April 1964.

Launch

Explorer 9 was launched from Launch Area 3 at the

Wallops Flight Facility Wallops Flight Facility (WFF) is a rocket launch site on Wallops Island on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, United States, just east of the Delmarva Peninsula and approximately north-northeast of Norfolk. The facility is operated by the Goddar ...

(WFF), atop a Scout X-1 launch vehicle with the serial number ST-4. It was the first spacecraft launched from Wallops Island to achieve orbit, with one previous attempt having failed. The launch occurred at 13:05:00 GMT on 16 February 1961, and resulted in Explorer 9 being deployed into an orbit with an

apogee An apsis (; ) is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body. For example, the apsides of the Earth are called the aphelion and perihelion. General description There are two apsides in any el ...

of , a

perigee An apsis (; ) is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body. For example, the apsides of the Earth are called the aphelion and perihelion. General description There are two apsides in any ell ...

of , 38.91° of

inclination Orbital inclination measures the tilt of an object's orbit around a celestial body. It is expressed as the angle between a Plane of reference, reference plane and the orbital plane or Axis of rotation, axis of direction of the orbiting object ...

and a period of 118.6 minutes. It was assigned the Harvard designation 1961 Delta 1. Upon separation of the fourth stage, the sphere was inflated by a

nitrogen Nitrogen is the chemical element with the symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a nonmetal and the lightest member of group 15 of the periodic table, often called the pnictogens. It is a common element in the universe, estimated at seve ...

gas bottle, and a separation spring ejected it out into its own orbit. The two hemispheres of aluminium foil were separated with a gap of Mylar at the spacecraft's equator and served as the antenna. A 136 MHz, 15 mW

beacon A beacon is an intentionally conspicuous device designed to attract attention to a specific location. A common example is the lighthouse, which draws attention to a fixed point that can be used to navigate around obstacles or into port. More mode ...

was carried for tracking purposes, but the beacon failed on the first orbit and the SAO

Baker-Nunn camera A Schmidt camera, also referred to as the Schmidt telescope, is a catadioptric astrophotographic telescope designed to provide wide fields of view with limited aberrations. The design was invented by Bernhard Schmidt in 1930. Some notable ...

network had to be relied upon for tracking. Power was supplied by

solar cell A solar cell, or photovoltaic cell, is an electronic device that converts the energy of light directly into electricity by the photovoltaic effect, which is a physical and chemical phenomenon.rechargeable batteries. The second of six identical

air density The density of air or atmospheric density, denoted '' ρ'', is the mass per unit volume of Earth's atmosphere. Air density, like air pressure, decreases with increasing altitude. It also changes with variation in atmospheric pressure, temperature a ...

research satellites to be launched, Explorer 9 was the first to successfully reach orbit. It was still operational when the next satellite in the series,

Explorer 19 Explorer 19, (Air Density experiment A, or AD-A), was a NASA satellite launched on 19 December 1963, as part of the Explorer program. It was the third of six identical Explorer satellites launched to study air density and composition, and the ...

, was launched, allowing simultaneous readings to be taken and compared.

Mission results

Careful and continuous photographic observation of the satellite allowed scientists to conduct an unprecedented survey of the Earth's

. The satellite first confirmed the daily bulge in the upper atmosphere caused by the Sun's heating the air during the day and verified the model of exospheric temperature developed according to other satellite data. It was later discovered that the temperature of the exosphere increased after geomagnetic disturbances in the ionosphere, peaking around five hours after each event. With three years of data, scientists were able to discern a seasonal variation to the

's density, with an increase of 25% observed in winter over summer at a reference

latitude In geography, latitude is a coordinate that specifies the north– south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from –90° at the south pole to 90° at the north po ...

of 39°. The delay in the temperature increase resulting from magnetic disturbances was further refined to 5.2 ± 0.4 hours. Explorer 9 was the first spacecraft placed in orbit by an all-solid launch vehicle and the first spacecraft successfully launched into orbit from Wallops Island. The spacecraft reentered the Earth's atmosphere on 9 April 1964.

Legacy

A replica of the spacecraft, possibly a flight backup, is currently located in the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

's National Air and Space Museum, although it is not on display.

References

{{Orbital launches in 1961 Spacecraft launched in 1961 Spacecraft which reentered in 1964 Passive satellites Explorers Program Balloon satellites Satellites in medium Earth orbit Geospace monitoring satellites